The Noble Queen-A Shadow Slave Fanfic

"Welcome, Professor Noble," Bee Two moved to one side to allow the room to get a better view of the Master's arrival. "I was just giving an overview of the expectations of the course."

"Thank you," Noble dipped her head toward the android.

Her assistant hadn't even made a snarky remark this time about her untimely arrival.

When the transition to the Dream Realm had first occurred, Noble's schedule had been shaky at best and unreliable at worst.

Being pulled in so many directions—taking care of her family, establishing a Dreamer Academy, searching for Skinwalkers, and also maintaining her teaching position at the Awakened Academy had proved a nearly impossible task. Her Awakened Academy courses had suffered the most from her overcommitment.

But now, nearly four months after settling in Ravenheart, Noble had finally achieved a reasonable schedule…almost.

She glanced up at the clock in the back of the room. 'Only three minutes past the hour. I've done much worse!'

"Welcome to Memory Assessment and Utilization. For those who don't know me, I am Professor Noble. I see we have a good combination of new and familiar faces in here today, so I will mix things up a little."

A chuckle off to one side caught her attention. She gave the student a sidelong glance.

"You have something to say, Sleeper Vel?"

The young person shifted, the smile on her face fading. "No, Ma'am. Only, I've just noted that when you say that, odds are that we better prepare ourselves for something wild to happen."

A few others in the class nodded.

The professor tilted one side of her mouth. "I will try to be less predictable in the future."

In their enthusiasm, Vel and a few others from Noble's Dreamer Academy had already set out and recently challenged their first Nightmare. Thankfully all of them returned and were now students here in the Waking World.

It was weird to see them with Aspects and Memories now, but also somewhat fulfilling to know that all four had been successful.

'I'll have to get used to the idea of seeing people in both places. I want to keep a perfect record for as long as I can—or forever if possible.'

The professor clapped her hands. 

"Let's play a little game. Summon a Memory that you think would win a fight. Please don't mess up my classroom when you do!"

All around the room, sparks filled the space between students as over a hundred Memories wove into existence.

Many were swords. Others were variations of axes, clubs as well as some bows and arrows.

Only a few were entirely unconventional, seeming to provide no offensive advantage at all.

"Hm, very interesting! Unfortunately, this is not combat class and so we won't be trying out our Memories in real time." Noble watched the faces of her students.

Some were relieved while others were very disappointed.

"Don't worry! I have a solution for our little thought exercise. Bee Two will select the enemy at random and we will judge from there who is the winner."

Noble motioned toward the android, and a soft whirring sound filled the air.

"The enemy is: a brain-eating worm that is ten millimeters long and can move a meter in the blink of an eye. It has a particular love of earwax as an appetizer."

"What?!"

"A worm!"

"Did it say earwax?"

"What kind of enemy is that?!"

The students groaned.

"It's an earwax-loving, brain-eating enemy," Noble answered the last question with a calm smile. "And it seems some of you came very poorly equipped."

The professor scanned the room.

"Anyone with a sword, axe, or bow is out. None of those would be able to cut something so small that moves so quickly. It would be in your ear in an instant. You can dismiss your Memories."

Grumbling, more than three-quarters of the room sent their items back in their soul sea.

"What about the other offensive weapons, Bee Two?"

The android tapped its forehead. "Running simulation."

Bee Two's eyes scanned the weapons in the room.

"Each of the clubs present would have a one in seven hundred and twenty-five chance of hitting, and that is being generous. The knife over there has an enchantment that looks like it's related to speed, so the odds there are one in sixty-three."

"None of those are passing grades. Your earwax and then your brain would be worm food. You are out." Noble waved her hand.

Two Bee continued the investigation of the remaining items.

"Too slow, too unwieldy, too shiny, just no…surely you were just trying to make Professor Noble laugh…"

One by one all of the offensive weapons were turned away by the sassy android, leaving only a few utility Memories for the Professor to peruse.

Finally, five remained and were called to the front of the room.

"Why do you think a wrench would win?" Noble raised an eyebrow at the Sleeper. 

"It's not just a wrench, it's a multi-tool." The young man demonstrated, changing its shape. "If I can't throw a wrench at it, then maybe I can hammer it."

"What about you?" Noble looked up at an exceptionally tall blonde wearing a magical belt.

"The pocket of this belt can contain almost anything. At worst, I would starve it to death."

The next two, a pen and a pair of boots were both defended by their owners.

"This stylus can create a facsimile of anything that I can draw…within reason. All I would need to do is draw a defensive cone around myself and then draw a fork to skewer it."

"These boots float above the landscape. The worm can't fly so it cannot attack me."

"Very interesting!" Noble noted the creativity of both Sleeper's thoughts.

The final item was a helmet with a translucent visor.

It was held by a girl in a blue scarf.

"Tell me about your Memory." Noble invited.

"This helmet would protect my head, which is the most important weapon an Awakened can have. The visor has an enchantment that guides my eyes toward weak points in things that threaten me. So I would do my best to determine the weak point, stay out of its way, and then summon the right Memory to kill it."

"You would summon another Memory?" Noble arched her brow.

The girl nodded.

"You said to summon a Memory to help me win. This Memory is it. I wouldn't know what weapon to choose without it."

Noble hummed softly.

"Bee Two, can you calculate the input from the Sleepers and decide who has won our contest?"

With a scoff, the android placed one hand on its alloy hip.

"Of course I can."

The room grew silent waiting for the answer.

Bee Two seemed to enjoy the suspense—if such a thing could be said of an android—so the moment of reckoning was drawn out far longer than needed.

At last, the assistant printed a paper and handed it to the professor.

Nodding to Bee Two, Noble looked at the page. A small smile came to her face as she looked up at the students.

'I guess I like a little drama too.'

"Faced with a tiny brain-eating worm that has a sweet tooth for earwax, the winner is…"