The classroom smells of chalk, ink, and wool coats. Bo Flint sits at his wooden desk while the weekend chatter hums low around him, boys in dark uniforms bent over their books.
Then the heavy oak door groans open.
A feral boy stands in the gap, wild blonde hair hanging over his face, bare feet swollen and huge against the threshold. A cloying reek of musk and wet earth pours in with him.
Bo sees the nearest boys stiffen. Shoulders hunch. Collars strain. Fingers curl like knuckles trying to remember how to walk.
Master Rüdiger
Close that door. At once.
Master Rüdiger rises from behind the desk, face draining pale as the stink thickens. The room answers with a low, animal unease.
One classmate’s trousers split at the seam. Another boy blinks, jaw jutting forward, as his posture bows and his hands start to spread.
Master Rüdiger
Bo Flint, do not let him nearer. What is this thing?
✓ Quest Accepted
Close the classroom door
✓ Quest Accepted
Prevent the students’ devolution