Canaan Club - 16. Chapter 16

First on the list: World Formation.

The WardNav described it as a class where they’ll “learn about the beginnings of Earth and other planets associated with it.”

Whatever the hell that meant…

Rafe, Andre, Joe, and Daeran marched down a wide corridor, followed by a group of several other first-years who trailed behind them like a bunch of toadies, which might have had a lot to do with Rafe’s fight with a certain barbarian last night. Rafe should have felt like a celebrity but, having been the cream of the crop at his old Coat school, it left him feeling a bit jaded.

Their GPSs led them to a five-panel door, and upon opening it, their ears were met with the sound of music, a pop song that made Rafe cringe blasting throughout the classroom. The area wasn’t as amazing as the Crystal Grotto, but there was something impressive about coating your room entirely in world maps. Talk about dedication to the cause and all that.

And sitting on the desk in the front of the class was, surprisingly, a silver-haired man in his twenties waving them in, decked out in beach clothes – a tank-top, sunflower shorts, and sunglasses.

“Come in and come all, my pupils. From dust, you came, and to dust, you shall return.”

The gathering of first-years blinked all at once. He looked like a surfer but spoke like a philosopher.

“Thanks?” Joe quirked both brows.

“Though, we do not all come from the same dust,” the strange man continued. “Our elements have been assorted by the creator gods to produce a variety of walkers and dwellers.”

“So, we’re gonna have that kind of teacher,” Rafe said as he sat at the desk in the middle of the second row.

Andre sat next to him. “What kind?”

“Look at him. He’s…” the blond superhuman twirled his finger beside his temple silently.

“Stop,” the omé scoffed, looking at the teacher flailing his arms as he proceeded with his early modern English-riddled speech. “He sounds like fun. Find you a teacher that serenades you on the first day of class.”

Joe chuckled on Andre’s left. “Yeah, but you know the teachers that look like they’re going to be exciting but are so into their subject they end up being boring? I’m kind of getting that vibe, bro.”

“Same,” Daeran quietly agreed, sitting in the third row behind the three of them.

The young wolf shook his head with an excited smile. “Like with everyone, we’ll give him a chance.”

Suddenly, the surfer’s image began to muddle, distorting for just a few seconds as everyone watched on in shock and awe before he morphed into a… she.

Mr. Surf was now a woman in business attire, her black hair reaching her rear and the velvety skin of her legs partially covered up by her navy-blue skirt.

“Take a seat, younglings,” her silky voice made some of the males in the class gawk openly. “Your attendance will be recorded the second you seat yourself at a desk. No assigned seats for my class.”

“I guess he- she’s a little cool.” Even Joe couldn’t help but ogle closely, the bridge of his nose flushing just a bit.

“I am the being designated at birth as Whelan Surf, an exceptional changeling, or what the cool kids today call a ‘shapeshifter’, and your instructor for your first period World Formation class,” Surf smiled sweetly at her students, either unaware of or ignoring the eyeing some of them were doing with her plump breast. “Now, before we start our first lesson, let us go over the syllabus. And then I want you to tell me your definition of the word ‘world’.”

Thirty minutes later, the four boys were in different states of attentiveness. Rafe was bored, expression completely blank. Joe was trying not to fall asleep, his head nodding occasionally. Andre was listening with rapt attention, brown eyes glimmering with astonishment with every word that came out of Surf’s mouth. And Daeran was daydreaming about something else, hand under his chin while he gazed out the window.

The teacher was now a bearded hunter, tall, muscular, and dressed in metal and wool. “Creationism. The belief in the existence of all life as a result of divine power. One of the main causes of the war between humans and werewolves…”

Rafe looked over at Andre with drab eyes and muttered, “My well of chances have officially drained, dude.”

“Oh, come on. It’s history. Isn’t that interesting?”

“It’s not anything I haven’t learned in regular human school.”

“But it’s never been taught this way, hasn’t it?” the omé pointed at the ever-changing instructor.

He had gone through over a dozen other forms in the last half-hour.

Rafe shrugged. “I suppose not. But I’m not putting any money on the next one. Alien Life Gardening? What the hell’s the point of that?”

“So impatient,” Andre grinned. “Who knows, man? You always say you wanted to take down the Coat, so you came here. Maybe some of this might help you one day.”

The blond couldn’t keep from rolling his silver eyes. “Doubt it.”

Science studies? Gardening?

How was any of that going to aid him in a literal battle against a powerful corporate entity? Perhaps he could bore them to death with the different types of rocks found on Mars. Or perhaps plant a few flowers that emit a poisonous gas that could kill its victims within seconds.

Pfft. Yeah, right.

“But it’s not completely off the table, right?” the wolf boy winked.

Rafe clenched his left fist and glared at it. “I just wanted to learn how to fight better and get stronger. That little fight at orientation was probably just a cock tease.”

“Andre, my boy!”

Their attention snapped back to Surf, who was now a large, dark wolf, holding a chain mace in one hand and an ax in the other.

“Yes, sir?” the omé shot up straight.

“What sovereign government was developed a year after the Earth Split?”

There was no hesitation as Andre answered the question with an enthusiastic grin. “The Majestic Moon Monarchy, sir. The highest level of lupine authority established in 1670 and ruled over by the Alpha Emperor and Luna Empress.”

He was graced with wide eyes and impressed grins. Surf’s smirk was more of a hungry, sharp glower, but there was no mistaking the shimmer of approval in those beady, black eyes.

“Well done, Andre. Paying attention to the details,” he glanced at Rafe. “Perhaps a certain chatty blond friend of yours picks up on such a quality?”

The blond superhuman wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest, instead reaching over and ruffling Andre’s curls, making the young wolf’s cheek pink.

“Of course, you’d know that, bro,” Joe snickered. “Was that supposed to be a challenge or something?”

“It helps that Alpha Renkin and his family are descendants of the wolf god Fenrir,” Andre shrugged.

-POI-

The Ironward backyard garden behind the main monolith was nothing short of enchanting. Colors, bright and dark, blended across the delicate, rich field of blossoming flowers and esoteric vegetation waving in the sunny morning winds. Rays of sunshine made the vast expanse glow, coating it in a heavenly aura where the birds chirped freely and the bees zipped around without pause. The sweet scent of the splendor had several first-years practically uncontrollably. Andre especially couldn’t get enough, sighing in satisfaction every time he got a whiff.

Rafe almost felt like he should be sneezing right about now. The saccharine odor was a bit too pleasant.

Alien Life Gardening class was run by Ellaidha Rishi, a purple-haired Naga, or snake person, that slithered around on her green tail for a lower body as she guided her class of first-years through the enormous garden. And surrounding the group were four older students, most likely sixth or seventh-years, interjecting every once and a while to add their two cents.

Throughout it all, Rafe wanted to die.

“While a majority of the flowers of Earth are relatively harmless,” Ms. Rishi prattled on endlessly, pointing a talon at an ugly green flower that reminded the blond of a spiked reel wheel, “the blooms of planet Juthar are more likely to cause a plant-based apocalypse. Quite shocking, yes? Allow me to explain…”

“Oh my god,” Rafe facepalmed with a groan.

Andre slapped him gently on the shoulder. “Just listen!”

“I tried three times. No luck.”

“At least we have a class outside,” Joe faced the positives, seemingly absentminded as well. “The view’s quite nice out here.”

That was certainly true. The other islands were a lot more visible than ever before, downtown areas faded in fog and shafts of light. There were probably other lesser-known schools over there, overshadowed by the main island’s academy’s prominence. Rafe made a mental note to go exploring there someday.

“Yeah,” Daeran nodded. “It’s… pretty peaceful, too. I’ve never seen these kinds of flowers before.”

He reached down and poked one of the pedals of an iridescent blossom that resembled a multi-colored octopus. There was a spark of crimson, and the four had no time to register it before the odd flower suddenly expanded, inexplicably growing bark and polychromic shrubs growing from the wood.

There were screams of fright and panic, and Daeran tripped on his feet as he shot back and watched in horror as a full-grown rainbow tree stood tall before him. The wind picked up again, but the trunk and leaves remained unmovable.

“I-I-I…”

“Oh, my! Mr. Davidson!” Ms. Rishi slid over to them, a hand over her mouth in disbelief.

Daeran hurriedly picked himself up, ignoring the grass littering his shorts as he stammered through his apologies. “I-I’m s-sorry! I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t mean to-”

“You must have a very keen eye for the Angela buttoloca, or more commonly known as the ‘Angel’s ass’. Let me give you a brief history of such an enigmatic plant. You see, back in 1506…”

Daeran stood there, dumbfounded, but his shoulders relaxed as relief flooded through him.

“So, you can grow flowers into trees,” Joe grinned at him. “I have another guess, bro. You must be a… Dionysus superhuman. I’ve seen them do lots of shit with plants.”

“That was my guess, too,” Andre said. “That, or some type of earth fae.”

Rafe kept quiet, giving the boy a second look. What about his physiology could be so astonishing or so dastardly that he had to hide it?

“U-Uh… no, not… not exactly,” his roommate wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Holy shit, I thought I was about to get my ass kicked out of here.”

“Nah. I think you made some improvements, man. Don’t be surprised if they recruit you into being one of those teacher’s aids over there.”

The four glanced at one of the teacher’s aids caging them in, but Rafe caught something… weird. An older student placed herself halfway behind one of the first-years, who had his arms behind his back. The blond superhuman caught the subtle movement of the aid’s arm, snatching something out of his hands. There was a shade of gray before it completely disappeared within the aid’s pocket.

“I don’t even know how I did that,” Daeran mumbled, still puzzled.

An elbow on his arm had Rafe turning to a beaming Andre, who raised his WardNav and pointed at the name of the next class. “Turn that frown upside down, mister. I think you might like our next class.”

Intro to Magic Manipulation, it read.

Rafe pursed his lips, trying not to frown too much. “I don’t know about that, my guy. I’m not exactly a white-beard in robe with a magical cane.”

“Magic can be found in all of us. Even superhumans can learn it. I bet you’ll catch on quick.”

“Fingers crossed, buddy,” though, he wasn’t all that excited about it. However, one thought did bring a smirk to his face. “Maybe you’ll learn a defensive move or two in there. Now, that’s something worth looking forward to.”