First Class: Tentacle Onslaught
September 1st. The first class. At long last, Noble Academy's opening day had dawned. Students hustled about, facing the new semester. The campus, so quiet during vacation, brimmed once more with the heat and vibrant energy radiating from thousands of pupils.
And somewhere in the academy. The fifth athletic field, strewn with rough dirt ground and obstacles. There, all thirty students enrolled in Practical Situation Response and Crisis Breakthrough had gathered. They came from every grade. Second-years made up the bulk, with first-years claiming a solid share. Third-years were the scarcest. Higher grades naturally thinned out in numbers anyway, and for those who'd already handled personal field training before the academy's official internships, the class wasn't mandatory.
The students on the field passed the time before class in their own ways—chatting among themselves, staring at their phones, sharing dinner menu tips. No trace of tension; just easygoing relaxation. This was a once-a-week, one-hour class. No homework, outdoors, slotted perfectly in the early afternoon. Word had it that acing the exam here could even substitute for the academy's own practical test. An hour of light exercise a week for a practical exam waiver? To students, it was pure honey.
That was why second-years—who'd already felt the curriculum's growing weight—flocked to it most.
"Heh heh..."
"You sure you're okay?"
"I'm telling you, I'm fine."
...Of course, one girl had signed up for reasons entirely her own.
Alice eyed her roommate Lien, whose face hadn't lost its grin for days. She'd seemed almost normal these past few, but last night before opening day, it started up again. If only Alice knew why—but prying only got vague dodges. With a small sigh, Alice scanned the surroundings.
She'd sensed it from the start: this class's lineup was no joke. Especially the first-years.
First place, of course, plus runner-up... the original ice princess, a special admittee, and a sitting S-rank hero's kid?
What was with all this star power? And right beside her, another sitting S-rank hero's daughter, Lien Crossfield. Alice gaped at the sight of most of Noble Academy's first-year all-stars crammed into one spot. Were they thinking the same as her? Knock out mandatory classes early in first year to free up breathing room later. With love calls pouring in from everywhere already, it made sense. Time would be gold in the upper years. Hell, they might even get scouted before graduation.
Whatever. People like that are from another world compared to me, barely scraping top ranks in written exams...
With that thought, Alice mentally pieced together what she'd learned about their professor, Han Seongjin, over the past week.
Nothing.
She'd pored over the syllabus ten times, scoured the school homepage and the internet, asked around the community boards, even dug into his prior gigs. Zilch. She'd even sicced her familiar on him for some covert tailing, but it came back trembling after less than a day. Like it'd seen a monster.
Windy hasn't come out since... What the hell did it see?
Alice was still agonizing over the professor's identity—and how to coax her wind spirit back out.
Then.
-Wr wriggle!
A commotion erupted a short distance away. Alice hurried over to check. Standing on tiptoes, she peered past a student's shoulder.
"Hey, Ethan. Long time no see."
A hulking blond guy was approaching a gray-haired student. First-year runner-up, Leo Grant. He planted himself squarely in front of the guy he called Ethan, looming down with a glare that screamed one wrong word and I'm on you. But nothing happened.
"I lost to you first semester. But this time's different. Second semester, I'll take that top spot."
"Looking forward to it."
The gray-haired guy—Ethan—flashed a grin in reply. Leo snorted once and stalked back to his spot. The second-years, clueless about their dynamic, looked outright disappointed, unlike the first-years. Probably hoped for a scrap.
Not happening. Those two actually get along pretty well.
Rumor had it they even bathed together sometimes. Leo probably signed up just because Ethan did. Their dorm rooms were next door, too. Their bromance was infamous among first-years—prime gossip fodder.
Bet some weird post hits the community boards again.
Alice thought, just then—
"Men, always starting dick-measuring contests on opening day. Right, Alice?"
A girl peeked over her shoulder with those words. Orange-and-blue streaked hair, petite build. Like Lien, the daughter of S-rank hero Thunderbolt, Isaac Winchester—Izuna Winchester.
"...Huh? Izuna?"
"Hey~ Vacation treat you well?"
"Yeah, it did. You?"
"Eh, same old."
Izuna Winchester. Dead last in written exams, always top-tier in practicals. The classic lazy genius cadet. Not super tight with Alice, but they exchanged hellos in passing.
"Where's Lien? Your roommate, right?"
"Up front there."
Alice pointed at one o'clock. Lien was still beaming like an idiot, drawing weird looks from the crowd. Izuna froze at the sight.
"...Why's she like that?"
"No idea. She's been at it since last night..."
Even Izuna looked shocked, her eyes widening briefly. She stared holes into Lien for a beat.
"Heh—mm..."
Then she cracked a knowing smirk, like she'd spotted something fun.
"Got it."
"Huh? You know why?"
Alice blinked. She'd never seen them talk much.
"There's signs, y'know? Spot-on. One hundred percent."
"For real? What is it? I'm dying here."
"Well, why she's like that..."
Izuna pressed a finger to her lips and grinned wickedly. Her mouth opened—
"It's a secret~!"
"Wha?"
Izuna burst into giggles at Alice's face. Yellow plasma sparked around her.
"You'll figure it out in time. See ya~"
"W-Wait!"
—Whoosh!
"She's bailing with her powers just to keep it from me?! What the hell's the reason?!"
Izuna vanished at eye-defying speed. Alice nearly chased in a huff but gave up. Who could outrun lightning? Sighing, she trudged back to Lien.
'In time'? What does that even mean?
Alice still didn't get it.
A few minutes after the brief commotion.
"Professor's late."
"Skipping out on day one? And he's the prof?"
"Isn't this grounds for discipline?"
Class time had come and gone, but no professor. Should start any second... still no sign? Lien glanced around, seeing only vast dirt expanse. No trace of him.
Off at the field's edge, a purple bob-haired woman—probably the TA—stood waiting silently. Five minutes passed, ten. A student approached her with a question, but she stone-faced: "Please wait." He scratched his head and retreated.
With a TA here, it was the right spot. But ten minutes past start, no prof. Would they just skip?
Hope so. Alice, no slouch with spirit control but hopeless at physical stuff, saw a skipped PE class as jackpot.
Meanwhile, at the cadets' fringe. Noble Academy special admittee, Rakna. The wolf beastman perked his ears, scanning about.
"Rakna, what's up? Something wrong?"
"Hearing weird noises around here."
"What? ...Nothing but voices. You sure it's not that?"
"No. Not voices. Something alien. Like piercing..."
"Piercing?"
Behind them.
"So yeah, that's when the guy... Huh?"
-Wr wriggle
A tiny rift cracked the ground.
"Where you going?"
"Something nearby—" The chatting cadet approached the rift.
Then.
—BOOM!!
A bomb-like roar erupted as the earth exploded. Amid flying dirt, something massive surged up.
"Whoa—ack!"
The shockwave hurled the cadet tumbling.
"Cough, cough! What the—Huh?"
His eyes caught it. Something grotesque.
-Wr wriggle
Black something sprouting from the dirt. A long, tentacle shape.
And then.
—BOOM!!
BOOM-BOOM!!
—CRASH!!Crunch!
—KABOOM!!
All around, countless long black tentacles burst forth. Chain explosions swallowed the field. The peaceful training ground turned hellish in seconds.
"Kyaaah!!"
"Gah! What is this shit?!"
"Nngh!!"
Panic gripped them. One cadet whipped around.
"TA! Something weird here—wait, where'd she go?!"
The purple-haired woman had vanished clean.
—RUMBLE-RUMBLE!!
"Everyone, calm down!! Group up!! Grab the guy next to you!"
Gray-haired Ethan barked orders, grasping the crisis. Cadets clustered tight, surging to the field's center where space cleared.
"Huff, huff..."
"What the hell's going on...!"
"Report it first! Hurry..."
—KABOOM!!!
The earth-ripping blast drowned their voices. And the sight that met their eyes.
"......"
"Shit..."
Ten in total. Long black clusters sprouted across the field, fully encircling the cadets. Like prison bars. The writhing horrors aimed razor tips at them.