Chapter 10. Liar

"Ken! Rise and shine! Hurry up or we will be late!" Alice shouted while knocking on his dorm door with Lovetta by her side.

Soon enough, they heard movement on the other side and not long after, Ken opened his dorm door while yawning like he usually does.

After exchanging their typical morning greetings, the three met up with Clare and Genesis in the common room and headed for breakfast on a typical Sunday morning.

Two more months have passed and for Ken and the group, it's already been four months since the first day of class. With the last week of the academy semester dedicated to the biannual tournament. Only 2 more weeks of class until the students get to have a week to study and then it's time for the midterm.

Thanks to Clare, the group were able to stay relatively trouble free. While people like Xandrian and Dimitri will come and bother them every once in a while, due to Clare's status, verbally taunting them is the best strategy they could come up with.

After months of the same harassment, Xandrian and Dimitri and their groupies have become more like annoying flies that kept buzzing about and won't leave you alone but for the most part, they have been deemed mostly harmless.

For the past two months, Alice has become Ken's private tutor. Unlike Clare who will always help Ken understand things he's got a question on but still mainly focused more on her own studies. Alice does not care at all about making any progress herself and spends all her time with Ken, helping and teaching him new things that's not yet taught in his beginner classes.

Unlike Ken, who is now easily able to keep up in class and with Alice's tutoring getting way ahead of the curve. Lovetta is struggling hard with all of the written classes and even with constant help from Ken, she is not making much progress.

"Three more weeks and I can finally get rid of all those zeros! I can't believe it's taking this long for me to finally be able to prove to those that's looking down on me that I am at least better than a few people." Ken said excitedly

"How many is a few?" Genesis asked curiously as the group ate their breakfast.

"Well, there are 1022 total in our class right. I checked all the scores and the 785 from the 10 major kingdoms and the nobles and royals from the other kingdoms have all passed at least the beginner level.

There are only around 100 of us that are still trying to pass the beginner level and obviously I don't think I can pass it just yet so hopefully my overall score will be top 1000!" Ken answered hopefully.

"Eh. Why are you getting so exciting for maybe passing up 25 people." Genesis wondered out loud.

"Genesis, you know how much catching up I have to do to just be on the same starting line with most of the people here?

I am not going to town for fun, not going to parties, not sleeping as much as I like. Spending all my waking moments studying and training just to make up for the 10 years of falling behind.

Clare, Alice and you have been going to school and studying since you were what like 5 years old? And I am supposed to suddenly catch up after not even 5 months of studying?

I am more than happy to be in the top 1000 by midterm and hopefully by the end of the school year, I can catch up even more."

"Hey Genesis! Don't be rude to Ken! You know how hard he is studying and training! He just need time and eventually he will be great!" Alice quickly came to Ken's defense.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude. Just forgot how far behind he is."

Genesis Feirvenn, born in the kingdom of Feirvenn, the second largest human kingdom and fifth largest overall has been part of Ken's group due to her friendship with Alice.

At first, she was only with the group because of Alice, but after a while Ken and the rest consider her as a friend now, and she also seems to be happy hanging with the group.

Unlike the other four where they are always growing closer together day after day. Genesis is more reserved and barely talks about herself or lets the others get too familiar.

"You don't need to apologize; I might be crawling right now but eventually I will learn to walk and then run and once I hit my stride, I will be leaving all of you in my dust!" Ken claimed, confident as ever but also extra excited as finally they will be having a day off from studying and training.

With the tournament starting in just three weeks, the town is in full preparation mode to welcome the massive influx of tourists that will start pouring into the city. And with that, many shops and businesses are desperately hiring part-time workers to help get everything ready.

Unfortunately, the island nation simply lacked the manpower needed. Mostly due to the majority of the students been from wealthy families and having no desire to work at all as they don't lack disposable income.

After four months of class, studying, training and not much of anything else. As much as Ken is focused and desperate to improve, even he had reached his limit and needed a day off.

With plenty of desperate shop owners hiring any abled body for work, hiring posters are pasted all over the academy notice board inside the dining hall. For the high paying jobs that require specialized magic or physical abilities, the older students with the abilities are more than happy to make some quick points.

However, for the low paying manual labor jobs, only a few commoner students are willing and able to work. Ken is definitely one of the few that's more than happy to take a day off from studying and go make some extra points so that he could exchange them for money before the semester ends and bring it home to his family whom he misses dearly.

Lovetta decided to take the job as well so she could have some extra points and get some good food before the exams to pump herself up. Of course, that's the story she told Ken but it's clear to see that she just wants to stay close to him.

"You know, Lovetta, you don't have to sign up for a job. It's not like we aren't all going and hanging out anyways." Alice said nonchalantly.

"I just want to earn some money, don't know what you mean." Lovetta answered defensively.

As always, Ken is the mediator between all the girls and was able to quickly change the subject before they could get into it. When the group finished eating their breakfast, Ken headed into town for the first time since the week they arrived.

Arriving at the meeting point, Ken and Lovetta learned that their job is to help out and turn the large square around the stadium into different stalls so vendors can sell goods to the incoming visitors.

The majority of the heavy lifting is either done by magic or students with above master level physical enhancement. Ken, Lovetta and a few others are just there to move smaller objects around and make sure everything looks neat and things fit correctly.

The job is quite easy and stress free as the group simply had to move small things to designated areas. While Ken and Lovetta worked, Clare, Alice and Genesis sat nearby to chat and once in a while would walk over to check on the pair.

At lunch time, everyone was given a 2-hour break to relax and get food. While Ken wanted to go back to school and grab the free lunch, the girls agreed that it was a crazy idea, and they should get food in town instead.

Alice went around and asked a few townspeople where a good place to eat would be, and the group settled on a homely looking restaurant that was quite busy filled with both townspeople and some students.

Not knowing what's good or bad, Ken left the ordering to Clare who went all out and ordered a bunch of food for the group to Ken's dismay.

"How much will all the food you ordered cost Clare?"

"Don't worry about it, just enjoy the meal, you earned it for working today."

Reluctantly Ken took the offer for the free food. For Ken and Lovetta, it's the first time since the first day they got here that they have seen such a feast and all his reluctancy disappeared as he stuffed the different types of food down at great speed with great joy.

"Sorry Alice that you just have to look every time we eat." Ken added while the vampire sat around watching the group eat.

"What do you mean? Are you enjoying this meal Ken?"

"Yep, taste amazing." Ken replied with his face stuffed.

"Well, every day when I drink your blood, it's the best meal ever so as long as you are happy and healthy and can provide me with your blood, I am more than satisfied and watching you eating happily just make me that much happier." Alice replied while hugging Ken even more.

"Stop been so touchy." Clare said annoyingly.

Once again, Ken had to step in before the girls could get more heated. For the past two months, with the addition of Alice, the group dynamics have not been nearly as peaceful.

Not only is Alice way more intimate with Ken than either Lovetta or Clare would prefer for her to be. She also seems to enjoy riling them up and knows exactly what she needs to say and do to get a reaction.

After they finished the delicious meal, the friends sat around chatting until it was time to head back to work. To Ken's shock, the meal cost Clare 50 academy points which is half their monthly allowance for the poor commoners like Ken and Lovetta.

The afternoon work went by quicky as Ken and Lovetta got into a rhythm while Ken suggested that they play a game and compete to see who can get their portion done faster.

After they finished their task, they collected 25 points each and headed happily to where the rest of the group were sitting.

"A full day of hard work and we get paid 25 points and that one lunch cost 50. I guess the lifestyle of the rich is not something us poor folks can comprehend." Ken complained to Lovetta as the two walked.

When they arrived to where the girls were sitting, they were nowhere to be found.

"Where did they go? They were here a minute ago before we went to get our pay." Ken wondered out loud.

Not sure if they should split up and search for the girls or wait here. Ken asked Lovetta to stay here and wait while he goes to look for the girls.

"Wait here until 6 and head back with whoever is here if we aren't all back. We will meet up in the dining hall if I don't see you here at 6."

Nodding in agreement, Lovetta sat down on the bench outside of the stadium where the girls were at before they disappeared, and Ken wondered off to see if he could figure out where they went.

After aimlessly wandering around town for a while, Ken ran into Clare, and she was able to fill him in.

Apparently, they were just sitting there chatting when a few people approached them and started taunting Genesis. She and Alice tried their best to keep the situation calm but things escalated out of control fast, and Genesis ran off and they had been searching for her without any success.

Not caring to hear the details, Ken told Clare to head back to Lovetta and told her the same thing he did to Lovetta while he continued on searching.

Even though the entire island isn't that big, it still takes 2-3 hours of brisk walking in each direction to reach a shore from the academy. Ken decided since the north shore is the closest to the stadium, he will jog there just to check it out.

With his current speed enhancement, Ken was able to jog at a decent pace and got to the shoreline in just under an hour as the sun was sitting. The northern shore of the island is a high cliff filled with benches facing towards the ocean where couples would gather for the best view of the sunset.

As Ken got closer to the cliff, he begun to survey the benches where it's mostly filled with couples cuddling and making out while watching the sunset.

"Didn't think I would actually find you here." Ken said gently while sitting down next to the startled Genesis who was deep in thought.

"So, what happened? Clare told me you ran off after some people came picking a fight?"

Sitting there staring out to the ocean as the sun slowly disappeared behind the sea level casting a beautiful reddish hue on the dark skyline, Genesis remained silent.

"You know, even though we have been hanging out daily for two months now, I don't think any of us has gotten to know you any better at all. It almost feels like you are actively trying to keep us at a distance so we can't get to know you better." Ken said calmly while holding his gaze towards the ocean.

After a few minutes of silence, Genesis finally began to speak.

"We were doing well and waiting for you when the group I was hanging out with when school first started saw me and decided to come over for a chat.

They were mad at me for ditching them and they found out some information that I was keeping to myself. When they saw me, they tried to expose me since we are away from the academy, and it won't cause as much drama."

"And I assume you been keeping the same things from us that's why you act somewhat distant?"

Once again, Genesis stopped talking and sat there in silence staring off to the ocean while Ken patiently waited.

"When they asked me what my family name is after been selected, out of fear that I would be looked down on for not having one, I lied and said it was Feirvenn just to make myself seem more important.

I was quickly able to make some friends on day one due to my fake family name. And just when I was able to gather my courage to come clean that it was a lie, everyone started talking and gossiping about this guy who got a zero on every exam, a loser commoner who didn't even have a family name.

I saw how everyone around me talked down about you and how much status meant, and I just couldn't bring myself to tell them the truth anymore.

I was able to keep up with the lie at first, but after a few weeks, it became too much for me to handle and keep up with the lie, so I decided that I had to ditch them and find another group to join and that's how I met Alice.

She was different from most of the others. She didn't care who I was, why I wanted to be her friend weeks into the semester or cared about my status and never even asked.

Eventually She fell in love with you and that's how we started hanging out. Like her, none of you cared about my status or asked me if I was a noble or princess due to my fake family name and like you said, I didn't want to get too close because I am afraid of what would happen if my lie got exposed."

"I can understand why you would feel scared at this academy and felt the need to lie about your family name. I have seen so many people getting treated terribly here when they were deemed as inferior." Ken added as Genesis stopped to gather her thoughts.

"My mom was a servant for the royals at the capital city and worked in the castle when she was young. Just like most servants working for royalty, she had to do what she was being told no matter what it is simply to keep her job and perhaps even her life.

Many men within the castle took a fancy to her and as she couldn't refuse any of them, when she was pregnant, she had no idea who the father could be.

Once they realized that she was pregnant however, they quicky lost interest and she was kicked out from the castle.

During her pregnancy she survived on the savings she had while she worked in the castle and after giving birth to me, she did the only thing she knew how and sold her body to support us.

She made sure I was properly educated from a young age and always told me that I needed to be educated so I didn't end up like her.

I went through all the schooling, pretended I was from a respectable family, lying like I have always done and lived a life full of lies up til now.

About a year ago, my mom caught some serious sickness from her work and when we spend a large amount of our fortune on a master level healing spell, we learned that her sickness is so bad that it would take at least a mid-rank divine spell and the cost for such a spell was simply impossible for us and she passed away half a year ago."

Genesis started trembling as she tried to keep her composure, without hesitation, Ken pulled her in so she could let out the tears on his shoulder.

"I am sorry to hear about your mom and I know what it feels like to be poor and how frustrating it can be." Ken offered a few words of comfort and just sat with her as she cried in silence.

"Sorry, I am such a mess." Genesis apologized after she eventually calmed down a little.

"What are friends for right? If I have a bad day and need a shoulder to cry on, you better offer it up." Ken replied with a small smile.

Without warning, Genesis closed in and gave Ken a quick kiss.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself even though I know I shouldn't. But it's your fault." Genesis said softly while holding Ken's gaze.

Just like with the kiss from Alice, it all happened too quickly and short for Ken to fully appreciate the gesture. With couples all around making out passionately, a beautiful view of the ocean sunset, next to a gorgeous girl, the only way Ken could stop his own urges is to break the tension by speaking.

"You know, having to live while constantly lying must be hard and draining. But I can understand why you felt the need to do so to protect yourself.

I don't think those people you were hanging out with at the beginning are bad people since they confronted you while we are outside and not somewhere like the dining hall where the gossiping and rumors will be much worse.

You probably don't want to tell them the details, but I think you should at least explain and maybe apologize for leaving them. Either way, whether you can be friends with them again or not, it's better to have a conclusion. Don't you think?

We should be heading back now, I bet the rest are also worried about you and it's a long walk back to the academy."

"Am I that unattractive that you are so eager to leave?" Genesis said sadly.

"Matter of fact, it's the opposite. You are so attractive that I won't be able to handle it if we stayed any longer and I want to focus on my studies until I no longer have to depend on others to stand up for me. I want to be the one doing the protecting and just learning the materials in class is taking up all my energy, so I really don't want to think too deeply about relationships right now."

"Gee, way to reject me with logic. Not like I can compete against Alice or Clare anyways, being that I'm just the daughter of a prostitute. I don't even know if you still want to hang out with me now that you know the real me."

Chopping her forehead lightly, Ken answered sternly.

"Now you are going to make me mad. You know I could care less about any of that, I am just glad that you are brave enough to tell me the truth. I know how hard it must be for you, but now let's head back before the rest gets worried."

As the two walked back, Genesis held Ken's arm tightly while continuing to let all of her secrets out while Ken just listened and nodded when appropriate to let her know that he was listening to every word.

When the two got back to the dining hall, it was already 10pm but the three girls were still waiting and when they saw the pair, Alice went and ordered them some food while Clare and Lovetta made sure they were doing alright.

Promised that she would answer all their questions soon but not tonight, the girls let Ken and Genesis finish their food in peace and called it a night when the group returned back to the common room.