Mr. Fillay ordered the class to turn to the section labeled Zengan: Hybrid Iumenti. He took out a spiral notebook and started writing notes on the board.

"After yesterday's attack, everyone has been asking me about the creature that attacked us yesterday. If you guys had done any of the readings, then you would've already known." He spoke like he was constantly on the edge of anger but never quite jumping over it.

"Now, can anyone explain to me, in their own words, what a Zengan is?" Of course, Sirius's hand shot up. "Sirius, my man, please bless the class with your wisdom."

Luke wasn't sure if Mr. Fillay was being nice or sarcastic. Either way, Sirius answered. "A Zengan is a classification of Iumenti who look like normal animals but exhibit traits from two or more animals on Earth. They are usually viewed as mutations of current animals and are usually rated a level 3 on the Draken Scale of Iumenti Severity."

Luke was not about to be lost in another class. So he raised his hand and asked, "What's the Draken Scale?"

"Good question newbie," Mr. Fillay said as he looked at a list of student pictures. "Luke Sanchez is it? Do you understand what an Iumenti is?"

"A really dangerous creature?" Luke guessed.

"Yes, but there's more to it than that—yes Alpheus, care to enlighten us?"

"An Iumenti is a humongous creature that eats people. Like dinosaurs—Rawr!"

Mr. Fillay chuckled. "Exactly. Did you get that Luke?"

Luke wanted to smack himself in the head. "So what makes them different from normal animals?"

"Ever read the Bible Luke?" Mr. Fillay asked.

"Yes, but I don't see how that—"

"Then you will know that God created the world in six days, and on days five and six, right before creating humans, He made the animals. Now, some of the animals He made to help humans directly or indirectly. Think of bees that pollinate the flowers, or cows that give us delicious hamburgers. Other animals He created purposefully strong to showcase His power and to test out if living things on Earth could survive."

"Like the dinosaurs," Alpha said.

Luke was even more confused. "So he tested out the Earth for a day and a half with these animals?"

"You're thinking 36 hours, but you must realize that time operates differently in God's realm. That day and a half could have easily been millions of years."

Luke was trying to wrap his head around this. If Iumenti were like dinosaurs, then why do some of them still exist? How did that Yak survive the comet that destroyed the dinosaurs eons ago?

But Mr. Fillay knew Luke's next question. "You must be thinking about the comet. Well, we're supposed to cover this a bit later in the course, but I see no harm introducing some of it now. There exists one line of thought to explain why God destroyed some of the Iumenti and why some survived. However, it is a complicated theory."

"Does it involve demonic possession?" Sirius raised his hand up and shouted.

"Yes," Mr. Fillay said and went to the board to draw a chart. He labeled the first column with the numbers one to five. He labeled the chart: "Draken Scale of Iumenti Severity (DSIS)."

Next to level one, he wrote down weak, slightly more advanced versions of normal animals. Next to level two, he wrote slightly stronger creatures, can take commands.

Then he drew a line connecting levels one and two and wrote that they can easily be possessed by demons.

"This is the Draken Scale of Iumenti Severity or DSIS. It is a rating system of the danger an Iumenti poses to us. Level 1 and 2 Iumenti are usually not too much of a problem. The common trait they both possessed is low mental capacities. They are savages who can't think for themselves and are easily possessed by demons. As we know, a body for a demon is like body armor or a weapon, and when you give demons Iumenti as weapons, they can become rather dangerous. Thus, God decided it was best to dismantle the weapons with the comet. This is known as the Preventative Possession Theory."

Okay, Luke thought. But that doesn't explain levels three to five or why God botched the job by forgetting a few of them.

Next to level three, he wrote down Zengan, long/short range attacks, manipulation of elements. Next to it he wrote in parenthesis, some can be possessed.

Mr. Fillay called out, "Sirius, can you explain why you classified the Zengan from yesterday as a level three Iumenti?"

Sirius didn't even have to give it any thought. "Well it possessed traits of a muskox and a yak. It had control over the element of ice and some parts of the Earth as exhibited through its attacks and ability to create fissures in the ground."

"And it farted like a skunk," Alpha added.

Mr. Fillay nodded and continued back to the board. Next to level four, he noted that they were extremely difficult to subdue and were capable of rational thought. They normally exhibited supreme dominance of one of the planes of existence: earth, water, fire, or air.

Next to level five, Mr. Fillay just tapped his chalk on the board as if contemplating how to best not make the class poop their pants. He wrote one word next to level five: "Unkillable."

"Level four and five Iumenti are extremely deadly. The vast majority of demons won't even come close to possessing these Iumenti. So, what God opted to do instead was to lull them into an intense slumber inside special caves. This is one theory to explain why we still see Iumenti today."

Theories, Luke thought. For once, I'd like some laws—some answers. God basically killed off those Iumenti He thought Satan's demons would use against Him.

"Some Iumenti have names," Mr. Fillay said just before the bell was about to ring. "But those who have names have been encountered by humans before. The vast majority of Iumenti remain nameless and therefore have an advantage in combat because we don't know anything about them or how to stop them." He looked at Luke and said, "Just like you and Sirius had to do yesterday, we have to figure it out in the heat of battle. Speaking of which," the church bells chimed. "It's time for you to head to combat training. Beware the Iumenti."