Free Web NovelChapter 9: Hunter’s instinct
"Firstly, you all see a transparent screen, right?"
A chorus of yeses and vague affirmative mumbling answered him. He took it as a signal to proceed.
"Alright, can anyone tell me what’s on there?"
"I can—"
"Ego—"
"One at a time. One at a time." He pointed towards a student already speaking.
"I see Ego, traits, and a place for skills, sir."
"Are all those sections full?"
"No, sir. I only have a single trait. The remaining sections are blank."
Mr. Morgan’s eyes widened a bit at the reply before he thoughtfully nodded and looked to the rest of the students.
"Do any of you see something different?"
No more than thirteen students and one teacher raised their hands in response. Miles wasn’t one of them. But to his surprise, Chloe was.
"I see something different."
It was Mr. Freeman speaking. He spoke from his perch by the wall, eyes lingering on Grimm and his raised hand.
If Mr. Morgan noticed the interaction, he didn’t speak on it, merely nodding before selecting one of the students with a raised hand.
It was a girl, one Miles was utterly unfamiliar with. Though her auburn hair and freckled face certainly read as distinctive in his mind.
"I see a skill."
"Of what rarity?"
"Uh... Uncommon."
"Hmmm... do you mind telling us what it does?"
She scratched her neck, shrinking awkwardly at the attention suddenly being placed on her.
"I-I’m not sure."
"That’s fine, the name alone will do. But you can tell us that later. Take a seat..."
"Sarah."
He nodded as the girl sat back down, a group of girls surrounding her already pestering her with questions.
"Does anyone see anything different besides skills?"
All hands remained down.
"What about rarities? If there’s an Uncommon, I’m guessing there should be Commons."
Eight hands shot up. Chloe was one of them.
The man scanned each of their faces, nodding before waving them down.
"What about Uncommon?"
Three hands were raised this time, Sarah still raising her hand again. In addition, Mr. Freeman spoke.
"I also see Uncommon."
He didn’t raise his hand, though. Mr. Morgan didn’t bother with the petty details and kept pushing on.
"What about Rare?"
Only two hands were raised this time.
’No, three.’
Miles corrected his calculations at the sight of Mr. Morgan raising his hand as well. He was quick to scan the faces of the two other students.
One was Mia, the girl who’d just watched her friend bleed to death before her. And the other was a popular kid among the lot staying close to Mr. Freeman.
Lanky and shrewd-looking. He’d been the one to close the door.
Miles had seen him around school a few times. Yet he couldn’t put a name to the face. After all, the boy hadn’t been the most prominent of the bunch.
Mr. Morgan watched both silently for a bit, carving their faces into his head, before giving a slow nod.
"There’s still one more person."
He turned his gaze to face Grimm. Carefully, he asked, "What’s the rarity of your skill, Grimm?"
The boy hesitated, visibly struggling between concealing or revealing whatever information he had. In the end, he caved.
"Unique."
That caught Miles’s attention. He looked at the boy with renewed interest—at least, interest beyond the fact that he was the only one with a gun here.
He considered revealing his ability now, too.
But in the end, he decided against it. Why exactly? He couldn’t say. The thought just didn’t appeal to him, especially when he didn’t even know what the skill did.
’Maybe there’ll be a chance later.’
He wondered if Grimm’s skill was as strange as his.
Mr. Morgan scratched his chin at Grimm’s answer, his brows wrinkled in thought.
"Do you mind telling us the name of that skill?"
"Yes."
The boy was blunt in his reply, not that it disappointed Mr. Morgan by much. He seemed to have expected such a reply.
"Alright, the—"
"I have two other skills."
The vice-principal paused, looking at the boy again.
"Of what rarity?"
"Common, both of them."
A certain thought ran through Miles’s mind at those words, one he suspected he wasn’t alone in having.
If this world was real, if all the strange and weird things that had happened so far weren’t a bad dream, if this was their life now... then Grimm had somehow been placed at the very top of their little food chain.
To top it all off, he had a gun.
The students surrounding Mr. Freeman—those Miles was now sure were his bullies—looked even more unnerved.
Well, most of them.
The lanky boy still seemed calm. As did Mr. Freeman.
Mr. Morgan looked a little surprised but still took it in stride.
"That’s... interesting, Grimm. Thanks for sharing. Is there anything else you’d like to add?"
The boy shook his head. Mr. Morgan continued.
"Alright, then. I guess that settles it. We’re still in unfamiliar waters, so we need all the information we can get regarding... this, and whatever is happening outside. As a show of trust, I’ll go first."
"My skill is [Hunter’s instinct]. As for what exactly it does, I think the name is rather self explanatory. If anyone’s too shy to say their skill now, you can inform me after my announcement."
A few hands that were already raised dropped at that.
"The rest of you can remain where you are. Still keep checking for updates and contacting your parents. See if any of them are heading to the school. Mr. Freeman, if you will..."
Mr. Morgan gave the boy behind him one last look before gesturing towards the corpse. It didn’t take Mr. Freeman long to reach him; by then, another teacher had joined him. The only other male teacher present, Mr. Matt.
They were pointing towards the last corpse in the room.
Chloe stood up from her spot beside him, a hand still on her phone.
"Hey, Chloe."
She turned to face him, bringing her reddened eyes into full view.
She’d been crying.
Rubbing her eyes beneath her glasses did little to hide that fact. The girl said nothing to him before once again turning towards Mr. Morgan, like many other students.
Miles struggled internally with the decision. Then, with a sigh, he stood up, following her to Mr. Morgan.
It had been almost an hour since he’d last spoken to Henry.
