In a pitch-dark and monotonous room with shattered swords strewn all over, a student sitting in the middle of the room plays the cello. By playing a dark ambient sound the student sets up quite an eerie scenery. 

They play the instrument with great splendor. With fast-moving hands and erratic head movements paired with light stomps, they almost seem to be possessed. 

As sunlight begins penetrating the gaps in the curtain and illuminating the room, the identity of the student gets revealed. His golden eyes reflect the sun’s light as he stops playing. His face, even though feminine, has a rather pale complexion that contrasts his raven-colored hair and robe. It’s Clover.

“I have a class soon. I should get dressed.” He says flatly.

He rests the cello on its stand and marches over to the closet. He slides it open and peers inside, the closet is lined with all-black clothing. He grabs his uniform and throws it on the bed along with a pair of black gloves.

He opens the door leading to his bathroom and steps inside. As he begins undressing, a snake as black as midnight wraps itself around Clover’s leg. He finishes getting undressed and picks up the black reptile.

“How did you get out of you’re cage?” He asks as holds it up to his face. 

The snake, almost three meters in length wraps around his neck and hisses into his ear. Clover listens to the hissing contentedly while shaking his head before replying.

“So you’re hungry? He asks as he pulls it loose, “You are such a craven. What will it be this time? A rabbit? An eagle maybe? Or are you craving something more… human?”

It hisses once more with a slight head movement.

“A rabbit it is then. Now go back to your cage.” He replies and then the serpent slithers away.

After taking a lengthy shower, he exits the bathroom and starts to get dressed. Unlike a majority of the students, his uniform isn’t white. It’s entirely black save for the school crest on the back and the wolf brooch which are both white. He finishes getting dressed, puts on the gloves, and exits the room.

However, before going to class he stops by a pet store. He uniformly marches through the busy streets wasting not a single ounce of movement. As he walks, he looks at the faces of the people in a weird manner.

‘Happiness.’ He thinks while looking at a young man laughing.

‘Disgust.’ He thinks after seeing the expression of a lady who’s being chatted up by some old fat guy.

He turns to the left, into an alleyway, and sees four men robbing someone. He looks at the face of the person getting robbed and smiles faintly.

‘And that one is fear.’ He then precedes to hold his head straight and walks right past them.

He reaches the pet store shortly afterward but doesn’t go in right away. He stops in front of the door and looks left and then right. After realizing that no one is around he puts on a heartwarming smile and changes his demeanor a bit. 

He pushes the door and rings the overhead bell. And as soon as he enters the store all the animals begin making enraged sounds. This, however, matters little to him as he marches over to the store clerk’s desk.

“Welcome to the Ruff Ruff pet store! What kind of pet are you looking for today? How about a husky? No, you look like more of a guinea pig type of gal. Better yet, how about our very own Veratian pogona?” The clerk greets him.

‘Ah yes, the familiar over-the-top sales pitch...And did he call me a gal?’

“Thank you but I’m completely content with getting the juiciest rabbit that you have,” Clover says with closed eyes and a warm smile. And unlike his regular monotonous tone, he said it with a little bit more life.

“Excuse me, did you just say juiciest?” A mixture of confusion and disbelief appears on the clerk’s face.

“Did I say juiciest? I’m sorry I meant fattest. They’re just so cute and chubby.”

“...Sure.”

The clerk walks off and goes into another room leaving Clover alone with the noisy animals. As soon as the clerk is out of sight, Clover casts a threatening gaze over the then-noisy animals who are now silent. All except for a lone parakeet whose chatter is loud and annoying. 

“A lively one hm? You’ll make for a perfect desert.” He says then grabs the bird from its cage.

The clerk's timing, however, could use some work, as he enters the room not even a second later. Luckily enough, Clover’s reaction time is excellent. He hid the bird before the clerk realized what was happening.

“This big guy right here’s named Paueta and he’s the chubbiest and cutest one of them all.” The clerk says and pets the big ball of white hair with beady red eyes.

“He’s so cute, I could just bite his head off,” Clover says with a smile.

The parakeet he hid behind him is having none of this tomfoolery and tries to make a sound. However, and weird as it may be, the ability to make any sound whatsoever eludes the poor creature.

“And how much will that be?” Clover asks.

“Nah, you don’t have to, but I was… uh… wondering… if I could take you out on a date next weekend?” The clerk asks rather shyly.

“Thank you, you’re such a darling,” He takes the rabbit from the clerk and switches back to his usual demeanor, “However I do decline.”

He immediately turns around and exits the store, leaving the clerk to wallow in his self-pity. As he marches back to the academy he notices Zachry and August across the street. Zachry and Valencia are chatting while August leans against the wall and waits for him to finish.

Upon looking at Valencia’s face a single word crosses his mind, ‘Contentment.’

However, as he shifts his gaze to August his brows furrow, which is unusual for his blank yet morbid expression.

‘Intriguing…’ He thinks unable to discern August’s emotional state.

This means little to him as he has somewhere to be. He marches away without them ever knowing he was there.

***

Back in the dark room, Clover stands in front of large cage housing a black snake. He pulls the top of the cage and places the rabbit inside.

“There you go… craven.”

He watches as the snake devours the poor rabbit whole with great interest. After witnessing that gruesome act Clover’s attitude toward the snake changes.

“Oh, Blackwell I long for the day when you grow into a marvelous fifty-foot serpent and devour me whole. But until then, I bid you adieu. I have a feeling that today’s class might include swords.” He throws the body of a headless parakeet into the cage and leaves the room.

Moments later he arrives at the classroom and sees that he’s the first to arrive. Before taking a seat he observes the room and cocks his head to the side.

‘They messed it up… again.’

He refers to the room but it is perfectly tidy. However, the individual desks were changed to a small rectangular conference table with five seatings all around. This triggers what appears to be a compulsive reaction.

He exits the room briefly and then returns with four student desks in tow. He leaves the room again carrying the conference table with him and returns with a desk for the teacher. 

Clover then precedes to rearrange the entire to how it used to be only this time there is a fourth student desk. This pleases him deeply as the room is now perfectly symmetrical.

He sits in complete silence waiting for class to start. Not even a second later he starts tapping the desk with his fingers unconsciously.

After a while, Void, their teacher, walks in and greets Clover. However, he gets no response. 

‘As tight-lipped as ever, I see…’

Void takes a seat at his desk, looking over some documents and sipping from his mug. Clover observes him for some time before randomly asking him a question.

“Are you satisfied with working here as a teacher?”

“Hm?” Void responds, baffled by the sudden interest, “Why the sudden interest in my life?”

“Nothing much, I was thinking of something someone said once.” 

“And what would that saying entail?” Void sets the mug aside as Clover’s change sparks a light inside of him.

“There exists an entire world filled with untold possibilities. Why not explore it? Why not gain as much as you can from it? Life…” He pauses on his last word before continuing, “Life is a fleeting thing is it not? So why stay here? Just to teach some ungrateful and arrogant little shits?”

“Basically what you’re asking me is if I have any ambitions. You see. In my youth, I ventured all across these lands. I’ve already fulfilled my ambitions, I’ve seen and done all of what I wanted so there is nothing left for me. And as for me staying here, you can just think of it as me tying up loose ends.” Void’s answer comes to a close as he adds on a bit more, “You know this is the first you’ve really spoken to me.”

‘He’s lying to me…’

“Don’t think much of it. However, I do have another question. Have you ever heard of Vanum swords?”

“Vanum swords? No, but if it’s related to swords why not ask the Gozen family? They are the descendants of Uesugi Gozen, the father of all swords.”

The door fly opens and interrupts their conversation. In walks Zachry and August. They greet Void and then take their seats.

“Clover, how about we continue this discussion later?”

“I highly doubt we will.”

“That aside, where’s Jasper?” Void asks, “Class is starting soon.”

“I’m here!” Jasper yells as he runs into the room, covered in bandages.

“Okay since everyone’s here let's start today’s lesson. The topic of today's lesson is Ambient aether manipulation. August, as a practitioner, could you explain the theory behind it?”

“By achieving a certain level of domination over aether and working knowledge of the chants and commands, manipulating aether becomes child’s play.”

‘Child’s play, he says…’

“Let’s substitute domination for harmony, but otherwise, that was a prime and direct answer,” He starts to walk around the class, “Created by Cornelius Baal almost six centuries ago and furthered by his daughter Seral Baal…”

The lesson went on for a while. Void also demonstrated a few of them for the class. They all seemed focused on the class, except for Jasper that is.

Unblinking, Jasper sits there with a blank expression, staring into space.

‘How many toddlers could I beat in a fight without using my powers?’

“Jasper, can you tell us which three known elements are considered the strongest?”

‘Around 75? No, I just have to grab one by the leg and use it as a weapon.’

“Jasper?”

‘They weigh around fifty pounds, right? So I can use two of those things like nunchucks and bat its friends away.”

“Jasper are you okay?” Void asks, concerned.

“Yeah, I could easily take on a few thousand of these things.” He says in all seriousness.

Everyone in the class looks at him with a pitiful expression. 

“On that note. Today we’ll be having a practical sword arts lesson with another class.”

Clover who has been sleeping for the longest time wakes up the moment he hears the word sword.

‘Yahtzee.’