The Transmigrated Professor

Rohan was never what you call a social butterfly. 

He was friends with a few people in his class and dorm, but other than that, he would always prefer to be alone.

And there was a very logical reason for that. 

The ghosts that usually haunted him would keep talking to him. Rohan understood that they were just lonely beings who couldn’t interact with the living, so he would often accommodate their wishes. This, unfortunately, left his social battery drained 24/7. 

Not to mention, their way of asking for “favors” was rather vicious, sometimes outright gangster-ly.

Every night he went to sleep, it was a battle of wills since there would be some ghost or another who would try to possess his body. 

And the somewhat friendlier ghosts would just watch him suffer from the sidelines, greedy for an opportunity to enter the physical realm.

That is why he had no intention of removing the Skill-sealing amulet ever again.

“So, you are a student at the Star Academy? Why did you leave?” The tanned, muscular boy in front of him asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

At the moment, Rohan was talking with Mike and Isabella, whom Professor Ray had introduced to him. 

They were about a year or two younger than him, probably ready to take the entrance exams for various academies. And unlike Rohan, they were extremely chatty.

Though from the circumstances, it seemed that they were also going to be a part of this “world-saving team” or whatever, his mom had told him about.

Like, seriously! His mom had always been a servant of Fate and would make him do things without explaining, so he was used to her. 

But he had at least expected a proper explanation from the Professor. In the class, he seemed like a responsible teacher who knew what he was doing, but even he had just left Rohan to fend off for himself.

“I didn’t feel like I was learning anything. Maybe I am just too weak.” Rohan finally decided to answer, seeing Mike pester him so much. 

Usually, Rohan would have preferred not to answer this question. The past few days he had stayed at his house, many of the neighbours had asked him about his decision. And he could see the ridicule in every one of their eyes as if they couldn’t even care to hide it.

But this boy seemed sincerely curious, not a hint of scorn in his eyes. So he decided to be truthful.

“So you will be practicing with us? Great!” Instead of showing disdain for Rohan’s cowardice, the young boy instead seemed glad that he had a new friend. “By the way, I use swords. What kind of weapon do you use?”

Glancing at Mike’s protruding muscles, Rohan couldn't help but feel envious, checking out his own skinny arms. “...I use the staff.”

He answered in a weak voice.

“That sounds cool. I can’t wait to see your moves.” Mike still seemed enthusiastic upon hearing his reply.

“I use the bow, if you were wondering.” The girl, who had been sitting silently behind Mike previously, finally spoke.

‘So she’s the Professor’s younger sister.’ 

Although her hair was black and her features a bit softer than the Professor’s, those sharp blue eyes…Rohan could definitely see they were siblings.

“I have something to ask... Professor Ray kind of missed out on telling me what we are going to be doing, so... if you guys can fill me out on that.” Rohan decided to ask Mike, who seemed the easiest to open up.

“We are going to the Sanskriti Archipelago to train. That’s what Sir Ray told me. By the way, it's also my home.” Mike replied with no hesitation.

“The Archipelago? That’s pretty far.” Rohan was surprised at the answer. 

And he certainly didn’t expect one of the kids here to be from so far away.

-Ring! Ring!

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, interrupting the conversation.

“Oh, that’s just our friend Ryder.” Mike explained as Izzy went to open the door.

As Rohan turned to the door, he could see a handsome boy with platinum blond hair, greeting Izzy at the door.

‘That hair…’

“Hey, Mike! What are you doi-” Ryder, who was greeting his friend, suddenly froze when he saw Rohan sitting at the table. 

Passing Ryder, Izzy went back to her seat beside them. “So, Ryder… What are you here for?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Ryder turned to Izzy. “Oh, actually, I was at home, browsing through the pamphlets of some of the Academies, and I thought of asking you guys for your opinions.”

“You’re joining an Academy? Congrats, man!” Mike quickly stood up and patted him on the back.

“Yeah, it's great. I never thought I would get to attend one, with my Curse and all.” Ryder felt a little emotional, remembering what he used to go through every day and how much better his life was now. 

“So which Academies have you shortlisted? With your connections, you can probably get into any of them easily. Maybe you can even join the Star Academy like your sister?” Izzy suggested.

‘Ah, so he really is Rachel Briar’s brother!’ Rohan finally confirmed his theory. 

“Well, I was thinking of asking you guys first about which Academies you were thinking of applying to.” Ryder explained his purpose for coming here.

“The Academies we would join?” Izzy and Mike exchanged doubtful looks before turning back to Ryder.

Rohan could guess from a mile away what was about to happen. He slowly shifted his seat to the sidelines, not wanting to face the drama.

Seeing their weird expressions, Ryder reminded them. “You guys do realize it's September already, right? Once October rolls in, the forms will be released. And then the entrance exams would happen in January. We don't really have much time to study and train.” 

“Well, Ryder…” Izzy was a bit hesitant to reveal their circumstances to him, but decided against it, considering how close they had gotten recently. “Mike and I won't be attending any Academies.”

Something in Ryder snapped as he heard those words coming out of Izzy’s mouth. “That's a joke, right? I mean, you have to graduate from an Academy if you want to be a Hero acknowledged by the League.”

He turned his attention to Mike. 

“Mike, didn't you come from the Archipelago to attend an Academy and become a strong Hero? What about your dream?”

“I do have my dream, but Sir Ray…There are a few circumstances I can’t tell you about, but he said he would be giving us special training. I am sure I can become even more powerful under him.”

“B-but I thought that we would attend an Academy together.” Ryder's voice cracked, as his dream of becoming a trio with Mike and Izzy in an Academy shattered into pieces.

Mike placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to reassure him. “Don't worry, man. With all this teleportation technology, it wouldn't even feel like we were gone. Izzy and I will come visit you every month, okay? And Rohan would have to visit his mom too, right?”

Rohan was startled to suddenly hear his name. "Um...yeah. We can come back to Capital City together."

“Rohan?” Ryder turned to look at the guy, sitting with Izzy and Mike. “So he’s going with you, too?”

Seeing that the topic was slowly moving away, Mike decided to keep the momentum going and moved beside Rohan. “Yeah, meet Rohan. He's an amazing guy! Apparently, Sir Ray personally brought him from the Star Academy to train him. Can you believe it? He's a student at the Star Academy. Isn't that amazing, Izzy?”

“Um, yeah.” Thrown back at the unexpected question, Izzy subconsciously agreed with him, not able to remind Mike that Ryder’s sister was a student there too. At a much higher rank, at that.

“I see. Since you guys are saying it, he must be an amazing guy.” Ryder's lips curled up into a friendly smile as he moved in front of Rohan.

“Hi, I am Ryder Briar. Would you be my friend too?” He put his hand forward to give him a handshake.

“Um, sure.” Rohan uncomfortably took his hand.

‘I am not sure why, but I am getting a very dangerous vibe from this guy.’

“Enough of that.” Mike interrupted the two. “Ryder, didn't you say that your swordsmanship instructor was showing you some new moves? Show them to me in the yard.”

“Alright!” As Ryder nodded to Mike’s request, he was quickly dragged away to the garden behind the mansion.

With the tension in the air lifted, Rohan slumped down on the dining table. 

Humans are scary… Much more scary than ghosts.

 

*****

 

It was almost 10 PM when Ray came back to the house. 

Rohan and Izzy were sprawled lazily on the sofa. Mike, who was sitting beside them, was wiping his wet hair with a towel, having just come out of the shower.

“Did Ryder come to the house while I was gone?” Recently, Ryder and Mike had been meeting up at each other's place and training together in the evenings. 

Since they and Izzy were the only kids on Indigo Street, with Rachel spending most of the time at the Academy, the three had gotten especially close. 

Ray felt bad that Ryder would have to leave his new friends, considering he didn't seem like someone who made friends easily. 

“Yup! He showed some of his new moves.” Mike nodded to confirm his thoughts.

“That's good. I hope you said your goodbyes.”

“...goodbyes? Are we leaving already?” All three of them were startled. They had thought they would have a few more days before leaving.

“Yeah. I just got our weapons from the market, so we are ready to leave tomorrow. Oh, and here...” 

Ray tossed the rings in his hands to the three kids. 

When he saw the stall at the black market entrance, he remembered Rohan saying that he didn't have a dimensional ring to keep his things. Since Mike and Izzy didn't have one either, he decided to get one for all of them.

“Tap the ring once to put anything inside. Twice, to take anything out.” Ray instructed them. “Make sure to pack your clothes and everything else you need in them by tonight. The rest we will just order online.”

"But do we have to leave so soon?" Izzy questioned, sliding the ring on her finger.

"There's no point staying here any longer." Ray explained. "Plus, we better start your training soon. You guys are all too weak now."

“Alright!” Since they couldn't refute this, the three stood up to go back to their rooms when Ray stopped them once again. 

“Right, before you guys go, I have to tell you something important.”

Ray turned to Jacob, who was sitting at the dining table.

He raised an eyebrow to check if everything was done. Jacob nodded his head in affirmation.

“Alright! So I wanted to tell you guys... I have established a Mercenary Group!”

Reciting back what he had told Jacob earlier, he asked. “So any questions?”

Izzy raised her hand. “Who selected the dorky name? And can we change it?”

“I have that question too, actually.” Rohan joined hands with Izzy.

Mike didn't say anything, but the way he avoided Ray’s eyes, his standing was clear. 

Ray clutched his heart as he felt their betrayal shattering his heart. 

Deus giggled behind him, seeing his Master getting shot down by his students mercilessly.

“Unfortunately, NO!” Jacob interjected, considering Ray's prolonged silence. “The Mercenary Group has already been registered. Now, you can choose your code names from the colours of the rainbow. I am already Mr. Green, and Ray’s Mr. Black.”

Jacob explained the nomenclature of the Mercenary Group in place of Ray, who was still frozen in shock.

After a couple minutes of thinking about it, all three of them decided on their codenames.

Izzy chose Miss Blue, Mike became Master Orange, and Rohan chose Mr. Indigo.

“But don't we still have three spots remaining?” Rohan questioned.

“Don't worry. I will fill them up later.” Ray, who had somewhat recovered from the shock, answered. “Now you guys go pack your stuff. We will leave tomorrow morning.”

With that, everyone was finally dismissed to their rooms.

Early morning, the next day, everyone was already out in the driveway by 7 AM.

“Now, now! I know it's early. But we have got far to go and much to do.” Ray enthusiastically tried to pep them up. 

Ryu and Yuna, who were snuggled up in Mike’s arms, curled up even more in their sleep.

Contaminated by their tiny yawns, Izzy and Mike rubbed their eyes, hoping to drive the sleep away.

Rohan wasn't as sleepy as them, since at the Academy his classes usually started at 8 AM.

Jacob was in a similar situation, as he had a habit of waking up early in the morning due to his old age.

Glad to see everyone ready to go, Ray turned to his caretaker. “Well, Miranda. Here are the keys. It might be a couple of months before we come back.”

Miranda was a professional caretaker, so he didn’t need to worry about anything. 

Being rich is seriously the best!

Turning back to the sleepyheads, he pointed to his newly bought SUV - Survival Utility Vehicle. A 5m-long black jeep, with R17-type tyres adapted for both water and land, as well as the durability of a military tank.

“Hop on everyone!”

“Couldn’t we have taken the convertible?” Izzy complained, remembering the car he had bought during the Aurum Guild’s anniversary party.

“No.” Unfortunately for them, Ray’s Audi R8 Spyder wasn’t able to maneuver the places they would be visiting, nor could it seat all five of them.

Therefore, he had to quickly get the SUV—a transport vehicle designed specifically for exploring the unknown terrains of Dungeons.

And in this world filled with advanced storage systems like dimensional rings, transporting the vehicle was no issue.

“Come on. We are going on an adventure. It's time to follow the winds of destiny!"

As Ray cheerily hopped in the driver’s seat, behind him, five faces couldn't help but scrunch up at his cheesy words.