Zack skipped math class after lunch, instead choosing to go back to the dorm and study with Edith and Zara. He would gain nothing from attending the class of that pompous windbag of a math teacher from before. In his current state, he was having a hard time keeping his mouth in line. It would be all too easy for that teacher to get under his skin.

It was smarter to avoid that situation altogether, a decision that both Edith and Zara agreed with. He went back in time for the last class of the day with Quinn, by which point his energy was beginning to flag. It hadn’t even been a full day since he was injured, and his body was protesting at the abuse it had suffered.

“Today we are going to cover the way classes work.” Quinn was sitting on the edge of his desk in what they had come to understand was his preferred position to teach. “One of you get up here to write things down on the board.”

He pointed to a random student in the front row, a female who was sitting next to Tessa’s empty seat.

“Just write down what everyone yells out,” He instructed her. “Now, who can tell me the various classes travelers can get?”

“Mage.”

“Warrior, Champion, Knight.”

“Archer, and Hunter.”

“Rogue, and Assassin.” One of Spencer’s cronies spoke up with a smile, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind as to the class he wanted.

“Aberration,” Zack spoke up, stealing the spotlight and silencing everyone.

Quinn looked up at the word and nodded. “Good, and can you tell us what the first recorded aberration class was and why they differ from the more regular classes?”

“There are two common differences aberration classes possess. They are typically very strong and very weak at the same time. They are built around a single goal. Take the first recorded instance of an aberration class. It was called ‘Meatshield’ and gave its traveler unparalleled defense and vitality. That would be its strength, its weakness, however, was that his class did not allow him to put any points to dexterity or agility. Every movement he made was slow and laborious. From what I understand, his teammates took to rolling him around like a ball because it was faster.”

“Correct. Each aberration-based class is built around extremes. High power, speed, defense, etcetera, but they always have an equally prevalent weakness. You may get superior speed, but limited vitality, or super strength and no dexterity.” Quinn looked at the student in front of the board and nodded.

Zack felt his mind drifting after that, and the rest of the class passed in a blur.

He had a slight fever when he went back to Edith’s to retrieve his sister. Every thought was blurry and felt like it was being forcefully dragged out.

Zara dragged him into the dorm matron’s small apartment with a worried expression. Edith was quick to check him over and discover his fever, placing a cool towel on his forehead a minute later. She left him on the couch and pulled Zara to the side to play a game while they waited for him to recover.

Jean knocked on the door a while later, with her arms full of food. “Are they here? I tried at their dorm first, but there was no answer.”

Zara peeked out from behind the older woman and motioned to the soldier turned teacher. “Brother has a fever.”

“I was afraid of that; he wasn’t looking good earlier. I came to get Zack, so I could bring him to get some proper healing.” She winked stealthily at Zara.

“Where are we going?” Zack blurred the words together as he was pulled to his feet.

Edith had already stacked the food on her table. “When do you expect to have him back?”

“That’ll be up to how long it takes to undergo some proper healing. Do you mind watching Zara until then?” Jean knew how important his sister was to him and made sure to not forget her.

“Of course, she will always be welcome with me.” During their time together, Edith had grown especially close to the young girl. It was an achievement that few could ever boast with the near infinitely distrustful Zara.

Zack’s eyes were half-lidded with fever as he walked unsteadily by Jean’s side. She pushed him into the backseat of her carriage and closed the door with a shake of her head. Ignoring his grunt of pain as his ribs hit the cushioned bench. Just from her briefly touching him, she could tell how feverishly hot his skin had become.

It was becoming clear to her that all of them had severely underestimated how injured he was. It had been so easy to buy into his act that they had failed to look at him properly. How many people, let alone kids, could get up and walk around with an injured, possibly broken rib. She could only think of one or two soldiers who might be able to do that and still go to school the next day, like nothing was wrong.

His actions had led them to believe the injuries were less severe than they truly were.

“Where are you tickling me?” Zack tried again from the back seat, his foggy mind refusing to focus on the words. “Tickling, taking, eating, one of those. I think.

Jean bit her lips to keep from laughing and drove them away from the dorms. “I’m taking you to the portal, just like you wanted.”

Zack blinked slowly, taking a moment to understand her meaning. “Oh, that’ll help. How did you get permission?” He spoke slowly, making sure each word was the correct one.

“I spoke to the major and let him know what had happened. He said that he would be talking to the headmaster soon, but that in the meantime he would make sure the school portal would be available for our use tonight.”

That had happened faster than he thought it would. He had been expecting the mysterious major to take a day or two to get the matter worked out, if at all. Obviously, the man had far more power over the academy and its portal than the sergeant had led him to believe.

Zack was barely coherent as they neared the complex containing the portal. Military personnel had surrounded the area and were preventing everyone from getting close.

Jean was waved through immediately, and they passed the gathering crowd of people without slowing. The building with the missing roof that contained the portal was empty, giving them a modicum of privacy. It would generate far too many questions if people realized that they had cordoned off the area for a single boy.

Unfortunately, in Zack’s current state, the oddity of the situation wouldn’t register until later.

“Come on, out you get.” Jean carefully extracted him from the backseat of her Alberitas carriage and pointed him in the direction of the portal. “Are you ready for this?”

He took an unsteady step forward, his eyes shaking and refusing to focus. “This almost reminds me of the first time I went through a portal. I think I was in even worse condition then.” He smiled sadly and took another step forward. “Are you going to use me like they did? I don’t want to be dissected, not again!”

Jean peered at him askance, unsure of how much he was saying was the truth, and how much was fever-induced madness. “We’re not going to dissect you. You have to be dead for that, I think. Did they really do that to you?” She couldn’t help but ask.

He nodded and stumbled a couple of steps closer to the portal. “It was either me or Zara. I knew I would heal with time. She wouldn’t. I couldn’t let them touch her, not that it stopped them from doing other experiments on her.” He clamped his mouth shut, his mind screaming through the fog. That was a dangerous subject. He couldn’t let them focus their attention on Zara. “They figured out I could heal faster after that first time.”

Jean was slow to help him walk. Her mind going back to the day they had rescued the siblings. They hadn’t been the only children at the facility; they had simply been the only ones that survived. There had been signs in the buildings’ depths of countless children having been used as subjects over the years. They were taken in small groups and used until they died.

The research institute had not been a new one. Despite that, they had never learned who controlled it.

Shaking her head, Jean dispelled those horrible memories. It had been a horror-filled mission that had affected even the hardiest of soldiers in their squad.

Zack continued on, unaware of her dark thoughts. The glimmering surface of the portal rose up before him, and with one last surge of energy, he stumbled through it.