Alex could see Hyntia leaning forward in her chair as the class was about to start. Looking around, he could see she wasn't alone in her excitement. Of course, there were also a few who didn't share that excitement, or at least pretended that they didn't. One of those was her friend Ghel. The young boy sat slumped down in his chair, his gaze not even on the professor. Instead, he was looking outside through the window close to his desk.

  "I'm sure many of you already know some things about Pearls," the professor continued his class. "but it is still important to go over the basics. Pearls come with power, and power comes with responsibility. It would be irresponsible of me, of the academy, to bestow this power and responsibility upon you without going over the basics and correcting any wrong assumptions you might have."

  Professor Elderwind walked back and forth along the first row of desks as he talked, his cane hitting the floor with a thud on every step. His long green robe swayed in the air as he turned after reaching the end of the row. Alex tried to focus on what the older man was saying, but on occasion he caught his attention slipping to the cloth-covered Pearl in front of him. It would be so easy to just quickly lift it, touch the Pearl and get rid of the voice inside his head.

  Alex's attention was caught back to the class when the professor asked a question. "Can any of you tell me where Pearls come from?"

  To his left, he could feel Hyntia quickly raise her arm in the air. A few other students in the room raised their arms as well. It seemed he was already starting with a clear disadvantage when it came to Pearls, but he knew that going in.

  "Yes, Miss Lilyxter," Professor Elderwind pointed his cane towards Hyntia, picking her to answer his question.

  So that was Hyntia's surname. Alex mentally noted it down. The more he knew about his classmates, the better, especially if he wanted to be friends with them. Going off the Fairy surname custom Henry had told him about, he could also infer that Hyntia's mother was likely called Lily. For once, that was a name he could picture the standard fairies of the fairytales back on Earth having.

  "Pearls are an accumulation of mana, either collected over time from the mana abundant in the natural world, released upon the death of a mana-rich creature, or rarely slipping between the rifts," the green-haired Fairy answered, almost as if she was reciting from a textbook.

  "Excellent, Miss Lilyxter, you've recited every known source of Power Pearls," the professor applauded Hyntia before continuing his lecture. The young Fairy seemed to be ecstatic about receiving the compliment. "Aside from the different origin types and associated kinds of Pearls, they differ from each other in one other major way. Is there anyone else who can tell me what that is?"

  Once again, Hyntia and plenty of other students in the room raised their hands. As the professor looked over the room to pick a student to answer, Alex spotted a slight smile on his face as his gaze went over Hyntia. It was clear to Alex; she was already becoming a favorite of their teacher. To not immediately show favoritism, Professor Elderwind picked one of the few students on the fourth row raising their hands.

  "Mister Bredwin?" The professor said, once again pointing at the student he wanted to answer with his cane.

  The student in question was human, like Alex, and from the tanned complexion his skin had and the muscles barely fitting inside his uniform it was clear he was used to working out in the field. Alex's best guess was that he was a farmer's son.

  "Their color, sir," the student answered with a thick accent Alex couldn't quite place anywhere on Earth. So, not all accents were like those on Earth. After hearing Professor Ghestalt talking with a seemingly Irish accent, it had been something Alex had been wondering about. It was already strange enough that everyone was talking English.

  "Correct, Mister Bredwin. Could you also tell me what their colors might be?"

  "Uhm...," the student clearly wasn't sure, which earned some snickering from a pair of girls sitting to his right. "I know there's bronze, silver, and gold. Not sure if there are any others."

  "That's quite alright, Mister Bredwin," the professor reassured the student, his gaze shifting towards the snickering girls. Once they noticed, their snickering abruptly stopped. "Those are the most common ones after all. Pearls can also be Ruby or Obsidian colored. Though those are rare and usually only reserved for Pearls slipping between the rifts."

  That was the second time rifts were mentioned during this class, and Alex started wondering what they were. If they were rifts between universes, could they be part of the solution to getting him home? Did he still want to go home? His life back home had been boring, to say the least, but his friends and family were still there. He had made some new friends in this world, but that didn't mean he didn't miss his old ones.

  "Now, can anyone tell me what the color of a Power Pearl represents?" the professor once again posed a question to his student body. Alex had read about teachers using this technique back on Earth. It was a way of keeping the class interactive and having most of the students pay attention. All while checking their knowledge for any gaps the teacher can fill in.

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  Multiple students raised their hands, ready to answer the question. Professor Elderwind swayed his cane back and forth as he picked a student out. In the end, he settled on a blonde-haired girl sitting at the far end of the third row. She had ornately braided hair, and elegant rings adorned both her hands. Her family clearly had wealth, and she was more than happy to flaunt it.

  "Miss Zilvermade, can you answer my question?"

  "Of course I can," the blonde girl said with a broad smile. "Everyone knows the color of a Power Pearl denotes its rarity. With bronze being the most common kind and gold the rarest. Aside from ruby and obsidian, of course." She quickly added that last part.

  "While you are correct that the colors correspond to how common they are, that is not the only thing they denote," the professor corrected the pompous girl.

  "It's not?" Miss Zilvermade raised her eyebrows, confused at being incorrect.

  "It is not. The color of a Power Pearl also denotes the kind of choice you get when you slot into your mana network. For example, when you slot a bronze Pearl, it only contains a single power. And thus, that is the power you gain while the Pearl is slotted," the professor started explaining, having found a gap in the knowledge of his students. He resumed his earlier back and forth walking as he talked. "A golden Pearl, however, contains three powers. The moment you slot the Pearl into your network, you get the option of which of these powers the Pearl will manifest while slotted."

  "Can you un-slot a Pearl, sir?" the farm boy from earlier asked, interrupting the professor. Alex could see Professor Elderwind's right eye slightly twitch before he turned to face the students.

  The professor briefly closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh before speaking. "Yes, Pearls can be removed from your mana network, and that is what most of you will likely do with the Pearl in front of you. But, mister Bredwin, can you remind me what rule number two of this class was?"

  The boy's eyes opened wide when he realized, and his tanned complexion seemed to lose some of its color. "To not interrupt you, sir. I'm so sorry, sir. I didn't mean to. I just... forgot." The boy immediately started apologizing, and Alex felt bad for what he knew was about to come. It was clear he hadn't meant to break the rules, contrary to what Ren had done, but from what his third-year friends had told him, that wouldn't matter to Professor Elderwind.

  "I understand, Mister Bredwin, but as I have told your Kahrn classmate earlier, at the academy everyone is equal. You break the rules, you have to face the consequences. Make your way to Headmaster Whylk's office, please."

  Unlike Ren, the farm boy didn't protest and slowly stood up from his desk. His head held low, he made his way to the exit of the classroom. With one last look at the Pearl waiting for him on his desk, he left the room and headed towards the headmaster's office. As the boy left the room, Alex could feel the energy in the classroom tighten; even Hyntia's smile seemed to have lessened. Professor Elderwind was not to be messed with.

  "Let us continue our lesson," the professor started as if nothing had just happened. "Mister Bredwin did bring up a good point. If only he hadn't interrupted me. But yes, Pearls can be removed from your mana network. However, any proficiency you have gained with the power will have to be reacquired when you slot the Pearl again. You will also get the exact same power when you slot the Pearl again, no matter the color of the Pearl."

  Hyntia hesitantly raised her hand to ask a question, hoping that would not constitute as interrupting the professor. When Professor Elderwind turned in their direction again during his pacing and saw the raised hand, a slight smile appeared on his face. Alex couldn't tell if that was a good sign for Hyntia or not.

  "Yes, Miss Lilyxter? And you don't have to worry. That is the correct way to ask a question during my class."

  Not scared of being sent out of the class anymore, Hyntia's confidence returned. "What happens when someone else slots the Pearl? Do they get the same power as the previous user of the Pearl?"

  "Good question, Miss Lilyxter. And, surprisingly, no, it seems the Pearls have some way of recognizing old users to give them the same powers, but to any new users, they will act as a completely new Pearl. With our current understanding of Pearls, we do not yet know how they do this, but it is a topic that is currently under heavy research. Does that answer your question?"

  Hyntia nodded, happy that her question was something that was apparently still being researched. She quickly noted some things down in the notebook in front of her. The professor walked over to the middle of his board and turned to face his students, his cane hitting the floor with another loud thud.

  "Now, I think that covers the basics of Pearls. Are there any other questions?"

  The energy in the room seemed to brighten again. Every single student in the room was clearly hoping that now that the basics were over, they could get their hands on the Pearl in front of them. Alex was just as excited, but likely for a completely different reason. He didn't really care about the power that would come with the Pearl. Sure, that part was exciting as well, but what he really wanted was to get that voice inside his head over that ninety-nine percent.

  Seeing as no student was raising their hand to ask a question, Professor Elderwind spoke up again. "Good, then let us get to the part of the class you have all been no doubt waiting for. You can lift the cloth that is covering the Pearl in front of you, but do not yet touch the Pearl."

  Excitement rippled through the classroom as every student lifted the piece of cloth to get their first look at a real Power Pearl. Professor Elderwind had barely finished his sentence or Alex was already grasping for the piece of cloth. With a swift pull, he ripped it away from the Pearl it was covering and let it drift to the ground.

  To his surprise, the Pearl in front of him had a silver gleam to the light pulsing inside it. From Professor Elderwind's explanation about Pearl rarities, he had expected the academy to use bronze Pearls to hand over to their first-year students. So the fact that the Pearl in front of him was not bronze had shocked him.

  Alex could hear shouts of excitement around him from other students as they revealed their own Pearls. This prompted him to check the Pearls standing on the desks of those beside him. Like his, the Pearl on Rin's desk was another Silver Pearl. The jaguar-like had a wide grin on her face as she stared at it, her sharp teeth reflecting the silver light her Pearl was giving off.

  Seeing another Silver Pearl, Alex was almost sure they were handing the students Silver Pearls to let them experience the choice of powers. However, when he turned to Hyntia's desk, he saw a Bronze Pearl resting in front of her.