The grand academy hallways were adorned with windows of stained glass panes; the glass panes were pieced together to form beautiful designs of the academy's specialty. The specialty in question? Beasts. Specifically, taming them. The fabulous artwork contained many kinds of beasts and animals, ranging from the mighty dragons, to the fierce wolves, to the proud lions, to the pathetic, tiny mice. The walls, floor, and arched roof were made of polished limestone that reflected the surroundings like a clear pond, producing an atmosphere of serenity. The construction work was clearly masterful; which made perfect sense for a place of such high prestige. This place was known as Arkren Tamer's Academy, named after the founder Talien Arkren.
A group of five students strode through the hallway as if they owned the place, conversing with each other loudly without regard for noise levels— or four of them at least, loud enough to draw curious attention from other students. This group consisted of four boys and a girl. The fifth person, a boy, hung in the back in a slouched position, holding a perpetual frown on his face. The largest boy in the group stood slightly over seven feet tall, boasting huge muscles, blue eyes, and long, smooth blonde hair. He was a very noticeable person, and if someone were to see this group for the first time, they'd instantly assume he was the ringleader. And he was.
As the group turned a corner, the ringleader then noticed a smaller boy, about five feet and four inches, directly in their path and heading in their direction. The smaller boy was still on the other end of the hallway, so the ringleader decided to call out to him.
"Move aside, punk," the ringleader shouted to the short boy, barely glancing in his direction before turning to his friends to resume their conversation. Yet, only shortly after, something bumped into the ringleader's chest, causing him to back up and look down. The short boy stood there, hands in his pocket.
"What's your problem? Don't you know how to move those legs of yours?" the ringleader said with an agitated tone, crossing his arms across his chest. His friends stopped and turned around to see why he had stopped, and they moved to surround the short boy, minus the fifth person who had hung in the back of the group; he chose to stay put and stare off down into the hallway.
"I didn't like the way you spoke to me, so I decided I didn't want to move my fucking legs," the short boy said plainly. The short boy, who wore a dark red jacket lined with sherpa on the inside and long black pants, didn't even bother to look up at the ringleader's face, as if telling him, "You're not even worth looking at." The boy had smooth, jet-black hair, paired with jet-black pupils lined with red irises. His skin was a very light brown color, and he had a relatively average-looking face. His hands were in his pockets, appearing to be fidgeting around aimlessly rather than out of nervousness.
"Small guy, big attitude. Why don't you scuttle along before I turn you into a small guy with a huge bruise?" the ringleader said, raising a fist in front of the boy's face.
"I'm going to have to apologize, dipshit," the short boy said, looking up and staring into the ringleader's eyes without so much as hint of fear, despite how much the ringleader towered over him. The short boy produced a grin, which unnerved the ringleader slightly. "I don't like your fucking attitude, so I think I'll stay right here."
"That's one foul-mouthed little boy," the only girl of the group, a brunette with smooth long hair and pretty brown skin, standing at five feet and seven inches, said, giggling as she swept her hair off her face. "That's kind of cute, I suppose. A small guy trying to be tough."
"Last chance, punk," the ringleader said, retracting his fist to crack his knuckles. "Or you're gonna get it."
"Oh, fuck off," the short boy said with a tone of unsettling glee that betrayed the language he used, his grin turning into a smile. His right fist rocketed forward from their previous position of his jacket's pockets, smashing right into the ringleader's groin and sending a shockwave of pain through him as the short boy continued to drive his fist forward. The ringleader cried out in pain as he fell onto his back, clutching his groin. His fair white skin turned deep red as he rolled on the ground, unleashing repeated screams of pain and drawing attention from others around them once more. "Fucking bitch. So much fucking talk from that worthless mouth of yours, but you couldn't even take a punch from me. Stay the fuck down."
The short boy delivered a strong kick to the ringleader's groin mercilessly as he reached to unzip his jacket, possibly preparing for a fight against the other four.
"AHHHHHHH! FUUUUUUUCK!" the ringleader shouted, tears pooling up beneath his eyelids.
"What do you think you're doing?" shouted one of the other boys in the group, who had curly black hair and stood at five feet and seven inches. He was not nearly as muscular as his friend, but he was larger than the short boy nonetheless. He quickly drew his fist back, ready to punch the short boy in the face. With excellent speed, his fist shot forward at the short boy's face, stopping only a hair's breadth away. A bluff. The short boy flinched backward, causing the group, minus the ringleader still crying in pain on the ground, to laugh. The short boy's smile disappeared, turning into a soul-piercing stare.
"You're just a damn chicken. Must've scared you so silly with that fake-out that you pissed yourself, huh?" the curly-haired boy said with a grin, beginning to lower his fist. The short boy almost unnoticeably peeked around the curly-haired boy before looking back at the group, his frightening smile returning. Suddenly, the short boy threw himself backward, followed by a loud thump once he hit the ground. The short boy then unleashed a soul-piercing shriek of pain, attracting the attention of all the students around them.
"FUCK! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" the short boy shouted, clutching at his face as blood dripped down his cheek, and then down to the ground.
"What the fuck is going on?!" the curly-haired boy shouted before someone behind him spun him around. The boy found himself face to face with a masked man in bright red robes who wore a hood, whose mask covered all but his eyes, which glowed orange.
"What are you doing, son? How are you already fighting on the first day of school? I'll make sure to have this written down in your records, boy," the masked man said, piercing daggers into the curly-haired boy. The curly-haired boy shivered slightly, finding the masked man's orange eyes unsettling. The group of three (ringleader still incapacitated, fifth member uncaring) stared in shock once they realized the masked man had a badge belonging to the school's enforcers pinned onto his robes: a badge with a specter's picture carved onto it.
"Mister enforcer, that son of a bitch punched me in the face!" the short boy shouted as he slowly stood up, an unmistakable fury evident on his face. The blood on his face began to drip down to his chin, then to the ground, staining it. The curly-haired boy panicked and tried to diffuse the situation, but he was utterly confused by the scene playing in front of his own eyes. And of course, you can't solve a problem if you don't understand it.
"M-mister, I didn't t-touch him at all! H-he fell back on his own and started to- uh," the boy stuttered, clearly nervous and stressed out.
"Fell back on his own? Son, he's bleeding from his nose, what kind of nonsense are you trying to pull? You don't get a broken nose by falling on your back. Do you really think I'm that stupid?" the masked enforcer said. "I expected a boy of the noble Rowan family to be better."
"Now, wait a minute, I can attest! Levi didn't attack!" the brunette girl said, attempting to stand up for her friend.
"What makes you think I'd take your word so easily? I can tell you're friends, which makes your testimony worth less— and I have no reason to trust either of you. For heaven's sake, this boy," the enforcer scowled and pointed to the short boy, whose face was practically boiling with rage. "Is clearly injured. And what's with the big oaf on the ground, kids?"
"The guy here attacked him!" the girl quickly claimed, pointing to the short boy, and then at the ringleader rolling around on the ground. The ringleader was still clutching his groin, crying in unending agony.
"Mister enforcer, that fat son of a bitch took my money, but when I tried to take my money back, he attacked me, so I attacked him back!" the short boy pointed to the ringleader with anger in his voice. "Then this guy here punched me in the face!"
The short boy pointed to the curly-haired boy, now identified as Levi. The girl was startled into silence, now as equally confused as her friend Levi.
"Well, that gives me an easy way to see who's lying. If he's got the money, then this boy with the bleeding nose is telling the truth," the enforcer said. "How much money did he take?"
"Mister enforcer, he took exactly four silver coins! They should all be in his right pocket!" the short boy shouted, pulling his hand off his face, revealing bloody stains on his palm in addition to more blood dripping down his chin. The enforcer turned away, nose scrunched, somewhat disturbed by the amount of blood. The short boy's blood dripped to the ground faster, bringing a sigh out of the enforcer.
"The janitorial department won't be happy cleaning this mess. That's whatever. Gives them something to do. Hold still," the enforcer said to the ringleader, reaching into his right pocket despite the boy's continued squirming. The short boy planted his hand back on his face to try and stop the bleeding, watching expectantly. The enforcer pulled his hand out, revealing exactly four silver coins. The enforcer glanced over to the group of three. "Got anything left to say, kids?"
The group felt absolutely bamboozled, their jaws dropping to the ground. Now, the fifth member of the group, on the other hand, stood stoically with his hands in his pocket, gazing mindlessly down the hallway (still). He was a purple-haired boy, five feet and nine inches in height. He wore a suit and tie, and had spiky hair that shot in all directions. His skin was also a very light shade of brown like the short boy's.
"Keldran, say something, damn it!" one of the other boys in the group said, nudging Keldran's shoulder with his own. The purple-haired boy, Keldran, didn't bother to turn around to the boy, who had snow-white hair and robes. The white-haired boy was only five feet and six inches tall, with pale white skin.
"Not worth the trouble. You can deal with it on your own," Keldran said, yawning and glancing at the enforcer. "Can I go now? I'm not involved with this at all and I'd rather not be."
The enforcer hesitated before nodding his head.
"I suppose I didn't really see him doing anything wrong. He's just been standing there doing nothing," the enforcer thought.
"You can go, son. The rest of you stay," the enforcer said. He turned back to the remaining three members of the group, studying them.
"You have some pretty nice acting skills. You won't be fooling little old me though," the enforcer said, flicking the silver coins back at the short boy, where they smacked harmlessly against his abdomen. The boy reached for the coins with his bloodied hand as they began to fall to the ground, narrowly managing to catch them before they clattered against the ground, making sure to groan in pain as he pocketed them.
"I'm gonna take him to the infirmary, expect yourselves to be called to the headmaster's office soon. I know who you are and where your dorms are because of your student badges, so don't try to hide," the enforcer said. The enforcer tore off a piece of his robes and handed it to the boy.
"Use this as a tissue to stop your bleeding and maybe clean up," the enforcer said.
"Thank you, mister enforcer sir!" the short boy said, putting the piece of cloth to his face.
"What is your name, son?" the enforcer said, putting a hand on his back and leading him towards the infirmary.
"My name is Red, sir. I've got no family name, and I come from the southern slums of Sai City."
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Common system: metal coins
Palladium > Platinum > Gold > Silver > Copper
1 Palladium = 100 Platinum
1 Platinum = 100 Gold
1 Gold = 100 Silver
1 Silver = 100 Copper
Most common people only have copper and silver coins.