Chapter 79: Zombies? [BONUS - ]
Ms. Clark immediately straightened herself the moment she heard Mr. Davin’s voice, the fury on her face disappearing beneath a polite expression so quickly that Ethan almost wondered if he had imagined the veins bulging from her forehead a moment ago.
"Good morning, Mr. Davin," she greeted, her voice suddenly much calmer and more respectful than it had been with Ethan.
Mr. Davin gave her a brief nod before his gaze shifted between her, Ethan, and the rest of the class, clearly waiting for an explanation.
Ms. Clark did not waste any time.
"This student was making false claims and spreading misinformation in the classroom," she explained, pointing accusingly toward Ethan. "When I reprimanded him for disrupting the class, he dared to disrespect me and even went as far as physically restraining me when I tried to discipline him."
Mr. Davin’s eyebrows rose slightly.
"How exactly did he disrespect you?"
Ms. Clark hesitated for half a second, and for the first time since Ethan had entered the classroom, she seemed a little nervous.
"He... he held my hands forcefully when I tried to hit him."
The entire classroom seemed to fall silent.
Mr. Davin stared at her.
"You wanted to hit a student?"
Ms. Clark immediately cleared her throat, her face becoming increasingly uncomfortable under his stare.
"Only because he deserved it for being disrespectful," she defended herself quickly. "He was openly challenging my authority in front of the entire class."
Jake immediately nodded in agreement.
"She’s right, Mr. Davin. Ethan was spreading false information about the abilities of Guides and Sentinels, and when Ms. Clark tried to correct him, he refused to listen."
Ethan rolled his eyes.
Of course.
He had barely been in this class for an hour, and somehow these two had already decided to turn him into the villain of the day.
Absolutely not.
He was not about to let people drag his name through the mud while he was still standing right there and perfectly capable of defending himself.
"I wasn’t spreading false information," Ethan said, stepping forward. "And I wasn’t disrespecting her either. I simply explained something that I knew to be true, and when she decided to punish me without even properly listening to what happened, I defended myself."
His gaze briefly shifted toward Ms. Clark.
"I caught the miasma-infused ball with my bare hand. Jake reported that too, didn’t he? He didn’t leave that part out, did he?"
Jake’s expression stiffened.
Ethan continued before he could answer.
"Lara was also there, and she saw everything. So if what I said was false, then I’m curious to know what the actual explanation is for how a Guide was able to catch an object infused with miasma without being harmed."
At that moment, Lara returned from cleaning up the shattered glass, only to stop when she realized the entire class had gathered around the argument.
Her eyes moved from Ethan to Ms. Clark, and after hearing enough of the conversation, she immediately stepped forward.
"Ethan is telling the truth," she said firmly. "I was there when it happened. He caught the ball, and nothing happened to him."
Mr. Davin’s gaze shifted toward Lara.
"Is that so?"
Lara nodded.
"Yes. I was the one carrying the ball in the first place."
Mr. Davin remained silent for a moment before turning back toward Ms. Clark.
"Then there is another matter we need to address first."
Ms. Clark’s expression changed.
"Mr. Davin?"
"Regardless of what a student says or does, raising your hand to hit them is misconduct."
The classroom immediately became quiet.
Ms. Clark opened her mouth, but Mr. Davin raised one hand, stopping her before she could defend herself.
"You are an instructor. There are proper disciplinary procedures for students who violate classroom rules. Physical assault is not one of them."
Ms. Clark’s face reddened.
Ethan could practically feel the embarrassment radiating from her.
"And therefore," Mr. Davin continued, "Ethan is not to be punished for defending himself."
Jake’s expression fell slightly.
Mr. Davin then turned his attention toward the original accusation.
"As for the claim regarding Guides being able to use their spiritual energy to shield themselves from small amounts of miasma, Ethan was not incorrect."
Jake’s eyes widened.
"What?"
Mr. Davin looked at him calmly.
"Guides possess spiritual energy just as Sentinels do. Their abilities are different, but trained Guides can manipulate their spiritual energy in ways that allow them to reproduce certain basic applications of Sentinel abilities."
He glanced toward the crystal ball still resting on the desk.
"Using spiritual energy as a protective layer around the hand is one of those applications. It prevents the miasma from coming into direct contact with the Guide’s body, which is exactly what Ethan did when he caught the object."
The class began murmuring among themselves.
Mr. Davin continued, "It isn’t an extraordinary ability, although it does require sufficient control and awareness to execute properly. Ethan’s explanation was correct."
Ethan couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit smug.
Well.
At least someone here knew what they were talking about.
Mr. Davin turned toward Jake.
"You owe him an apology."
Jake’s face immediately twisted into reluctance.
He clearly hated the idea, but with Mr. Davin standing there, there was little room for argument.
"Sorry," he muttered toward Ethan.
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
He had heard louder apologies from people who had stepped on his shoes.
Still, he wasn’t interested in dragging the matter any further.
"Accepted."
He turned and returned to his seat.
As he passed Lara, she flashed him a bright smile.
"You nailed it."
Ethan smiled back.
"Thanks."
Jake watched the exchange from the side, his expression still sour.
He was angry.
Very angry.
Yet somewhere beneath that irritation was another emotion he wasn’t entirely willing to acknowledge.
Surprise.
He had always prided himself on being the best student in the class. Nobody usually challenged him, especially not over something related to Guide abilities. Yet this new transfer student had walked into the classroom, caught a miasma-infused object with his bare hand, explained the principle behind it, and then had Professor Davin confirm that he was completely right.
It was irritating.
But, strangely enough, it was also a little exciting.
Perhaps having a brilliant contender in the class wouldn’t be so bad.
Of course, Jake would rather swallow a handful of glass than admit that out loud.
Across the room, Ms. Clark was experiencing an entirely different kind of emotional crisis.
She had embarrassed herself.
In front of Mr. Davin.
The very Mr. Davin she had spent so much time trying to impress.
She had wanted to appear capable, composed, and authoritative in front of him, and instead she had nearly hit a student before getting her entire argument overturned in front of the class.
There was no way she could recover from this.
All because of that boy!
Her eyes narrowed at Ethan’s back.
She would remember him.
Lara, completely unaware of the internal disaster unfolding beside her, leaned closer to Ethan.
"By the way, Mr. Davin is the main professor and instructor for this class. Ms. Clark is his assistant professor."
Ethan nodded.
"That explains why everyone suddenly became quiet when he walked in."
Lara smiled.
"Exactly."
"Thanks for telling me."
Mr. Davin had already returned to the front of the classroom, seemingly uninterested in the earlier commotion now that the matter had been settled.
He picked up the teaching stick beside the desk and turned toward the enormous screen occupying the front wall.
"Now that the unnecessary disturbance is over, we can begin today’s lecture."
The room gradually settled.
The lights dimmed slightly as the screen changed.
A large image appeared across the board.
Mr. Davin raised his teaching stick and pointed toward it.
"Today’s topic will be newly introduced monster species, their characteristics, their weaknesses, and the most effective methods of killing them."
Ethan lazily lifted his gaze toward the screen. He had been expecting something boring.
Perhaps another lecture about spiritual energy or some new monster species he had never encountered before.
Instead, the moment his eyes landed on the image displayed across the board, his entire body went rigid.
The amusement disappeared from his face as his fingers slowly tightened around the edge of his desk.
The room around him seemed to fade.
He knew that creature.
He knew those twisted bodies.
He knew those dead, hollow eyes.
He knew exactly what kind of nightmare they represented.
Those things had been the beginning of everything.
The monsters that had torn through cities.
The creatures that had hunted surviving humans through ruined streets.
The monsters that had turned his previous world into hell.
The monsters that had eventually killed him.
Ethan stared at the image on the screen, unable to tear his eyes away.
His pupils trembled.
Wasn’t that—
a zombie?