As soon as he saw the holographic display prompting for an answer, Alex instinctively knew how to interact with it. All he had to do was mentally click on the button he wanted. But which button was that? He knew Professor Elderwind had instructed them to deny the connection, but his salvation from that voice inside his head was right there. He just needed to pick accept.

  Professor Elderwind's voice cut through his thoughts. "Remember, deny the connection. No matter how tempting it might seem, if you can't control the connection, you won't be in control of the Pearl, and you are a liability."

  The professor was right. No matter how tempting it might be to just get this over with, he needed to do it properly. He didn't know what a connection to a Pearl would do to his new Otherborn physique. Drawing even more attention to him by not following the rules was just a bad idea.

  He focused on the button and denied the Pearl's connection to his mana network. The holographic display faded out of existence. A wave of compulsion he hadn't known was over him flushed away. He felt lighter, more in control as he pulled his fingers away from the Pearl in front of him. Other than that, he didn't feel any different, and he doubted this brief connection had been enough to push him past that ninety-nine percent.

  "Now or never. Deny the connection or you will be deemed a liability," the professor spoke, hitting the floor hard with his cane to bring any students out of a potential trance.

  Alex looked around to see how the people he knew were doing. To his right, Rin was lounging back in her chair, clearly not having had any problem denying the connection. Seeing his look at her, Rin grinned at Alex, nodding her head in approval. Alex nodded back. Next, he looked towards his other side, at Hyntia. Her hands were also disconnected from the Pearl, having denied its connection. Her gaze, however, was fixed on her friend beside her.

  Ghel was having some trouble denying the connection. His fingers were clamped on the Bronze Pearl in front of him. A lust for power lingered in his eyes as he stared at the Pearl. The young boy's breath was shallow, like he was fighting the urge to just accept the connection. Hyntia must have felt Alex looking as well, her gaze briefly turning to Alex, unsure of what to do to help her friend.

  Professor Elderwind started pacing around the room, his gaze sweeping from desk to desk, searching for any still struggling. Alex clocked him getting closer. If he wanted to help Ghel, it was now. He wanted to help the young boy, but he didn't know how. It wasn't like he could just get up out of his chair and shake him out of the trance. He was too far away from him to whisper to him to get a hold of himself. Hyntia would have better success with that, and he doubted she hadn't already tried that.

  "Contact," he suddenly heard Rin whisper from his other side.

  "What?" Alex asked confused, turning to look at the black Kahrn.

  "You want to pull him out of the trance, right?" She motioned to Ghel with a nod of her feline head. Alex made a brief affirmative nod. "He needs physical contact with something other than the Pearl."

  That made sense. That was why he had first wanted to get up and just shake the boy, but he couldn't do that. It would draw too much attention. What could he do instead? Alex looked around for anything he could use. His eyes settled on the notebook in front of Hyntia, then at the pile of paper he had brought himself. Would that be enough? He had to try.

  He crumbled up a piece of paper before checking where Professor Elderwind was. The old professor currently had his back turned towards them, so now was his shot. Finally, the years of practicing his throw at the paper bin at his office came in handy. Hyntia's gaze snapped to the paper in Alex's hand. She glanced towards the professor before turning back to Alex and gave him a desperate nod. With a smooth motion, Alex threw the crumbled-up ball of paper at Ghel, hitting him straight in the face.

  That seemed to have been enough. The young boy rapidly shook his head as he returned from the trance and let go of the Pearl as fast as he could. Alex quickly turned to check if Professor Elderwind had noticed, only to see the older man staring straight at him. Alex swallowed hard, afraid his time in the class was over and he wouldn't get a chance to slot the Pearl. To his relief, Professor Elderwind didn't say anything, at least not yet.

  "Time's up!" Professor Elderwind's cane smacked the stone floor hard. The head of every student in the room turned towards the professor as their attention was brought to him like moths drawn to a flame. "Seems most of you were able to resist the urge. Mister Prestixtor, Miss Windbloom, both of you failed to resist the urge before I forced you to. Report to Headmaster Whylk's office, now."

  Both students, a Fairy boy and a human girl, slowly stood up from their desks and made their way out of the classroom. Professor Elderwind followed them to the door, briefly stopping besides Alex's desk.

  "Mister Vansteen, stay after class. We need to talk," he whispered before continuing on his way to show the students out.

  He had noticed. For a moment there, Alex had hoped Professor Elderwind hadn't seen him throw the paper ball, but he had. And now he wanted him to stay after class. What could that be for?

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Once both students were outside and on their way to Headmaster Whylk's office, Professor Elderwind returned to the front of the classroom. "Congratulations, you all managed to resist the urge of the connection. Some easier than others." He looked at both Rin and Ghel respectively. The young boy held his head low in shame while the black-furred Kahrn raised hers with pride. "Which means you all possess enough willpower to control the gifts given by the Pearls in front of you."

  A boy on the third row raised his hand, and Professor Elderwind promptly allowed him to speak. "Does that mean we can now accept the connection?"

  "No, not yet; you'll accept the connection when I tell you so," Professor Elderwind responded, slowly walking over to his desk he hadn't sat behind the whole class. "First, you sign the agreement. No Pearl is free."

  The professor grabbed a thick stack of papers from the desk and placed one on each desk that still had a student behind it. They had started class with eighteen students, with two desks remaining empty at the start. Now, fourteen students remained, with four additional empty seats caused by students sent to Headmaster Whylk.

  Alex looked over the paper now on his desk. It looked like a contract, complete with legal language he barely understood. He carefully read it over, knowing full well the consequences of not obeying contracts back on Earth. He doubted the consequences would be any lighter here. From what he understood of the contract, it said that the Pearls would remain the property of the Emerald Claw Academy and that the student would be loaning them for no longer than one full year. As payment for the loan, the student would be required to spend one full year in service of the academy as an adventurer after they graduated. There were a bunch of other stuff in the contract, but that seemed to be the gist of it.

  "Does everyone understand the terms stated in the agreement before you?" Professor Elderwind sat behind his desk for the first time.

  Several hands were raised in the air simultaneously, including Alex's. He had understood most of the contract, but there were still a few things he wasn't sure about. The first student Professor Elderwind pointed to was a nervous-looking boy on the second row.

  "What if I don't graduate? Is there some other compensation I or my family will need to pay for the Pearl?"

  "That is a reasonable question. It is true that a lot of you likely won't graduate. Becoming an adventurer is arduous, to say the least, and at times dangerous." Professor Elderwind took off his small glasses as he spoke. He pulled out a small handkerchief from inside his robe to clean them. "If you were not to graduate for whatever reason, the agreement would be void since we failed to provide you with part of our deal, as written down in section four b. Any other questions?"

  A lot of hands were raised again, though the previous question seemed to have answered at least a few of them. The next student to ask a question was Rin.

  "What does a year of service entail? I have responsibilities back home." Alex was glad the Kahrn was asking this question as it was the exact one he had in mind.

  "I am sure you do, as others of you likely have as well. The service will start once you are sent out on assignments on your own. Depending on your talent, this can range from after your fourth year to the start of your fourth year. For most, it starts about halfway through the fourth year at the academy. Does that answer your question?"

  "Partly," Rin answered, "is it a fixed amount of time we are bound to the academy or a different metric?"

  Professor Elderwind scoffed. "Are you looking to get out of the agreement early, Rin of the Riverpride?"

  "Like I said, I have responsibilities back home."

  "Well, then you will be happy to hear that it is not stipulated as a year in the agreement, rather as completing twelve assignments in the time-span of a year. Most complete them well before their year of service is over." That answer seemed to satisfy Rin as she leaned back in her chair again.

  For the next ten minutes, the professor continued to answer questions from the students until no more hands were raised. By the end, Alex had a clear picture of exactly what was in the contract before him. All in all, it was a pretty good deal for the students. They got guidance and classes in their training to become an adventurer, even getting a Pearl on loan while they learn to adjust to the power that comes from them. And all they had to give back to the academy were twelve assignments for which they got the academy's support as well.

  Professor Elderwind stood back up from behind his desk and walked closer to the students. "If there are no further questions, it is time for the part of the class you have no doubt been looking forward to. Once you have signed the agreement in front of you and deposited on my desk, I give you permission to accept the connection with the Pearl on your desk."

  All around him, Alex could hear the furious scribbling of students signing their contracts and subsequently getting up to deposit them on the desk. He himself stared at the paper for a moment first. From the horror stories he had heard about exploitative contracts back on Earth, he was not going to sign something he hadn't read at least thrice. Especially if the contract sounded too good to be true.

  After not finding anything horrendous on his third read-through, he finally signed the contract. He slowly got up from his desk and made his way to Professor Elderwind's desk. The professor himself was still walking through the class, keeping an eye on students as they slotted their first Pearls. After placing the paper on the desk, Alex looked back and saw he was the last student to do so.

  He quickly made his way to his own desk, as if he needed to catch up to the rest of his class. There was no rush, and he knew that, but still, he didn't want to lag behind. Once again, his fingers grasped for the Silver Pearl in front of him, this time ready to accept the connection.

  Alex let out a deep sigh. This was it. If this didn't work, he didn't know what he would need to do to get rid of the voice. He mentally clicked the accept button on the display, and a warmth rushed over his body.