Chapter 58: Leadership…

Following his brief intro, Professor Platford Playard brushed his hands down his unbuttoned black suit jacket, which revealed a thin white shirt stretched along a slightly larger than normal belly, until he stopped his hands at his black dress pants. He was basically wearing formal clothes casually, which kinda fit, given that he was getting pretty old, at least sixties or seventies seeing as much of his brown hair was graying, possibly older since I assume he has a pretty strong system that would delay pesky nature.

“To start, let me share a bit about myself. I’m a retired S tier and spent thirty-three years as a raid team leader for the Celestria guild,” Professor Playard said, before looking straight at Melody and I, nodding. “Greetings, Lady Celestria.”

Melody, Lady Celestria, nodded back, and his eyes went away. It feels like everyone calls Melody “Lady Celestria.” Sounds so weird… the Lady title just feels… I mean it feels fine with the royal family. Lady Solstice. I don’t know. I guess I’m just not used to hearing it used for someone so… close.

"For this course, you can expect a manageable workload,” the professor continued, before explaining, “Each session will include a brief lecture, a discussion or activity, and a small assignment to complete before the next class.”

This class is only fifty minutes long. Seems like a lot to cram in, especially in the morning, but if he can manage it, more power to him. We only meet twice a week too. Really not a lot of time.

“There are no finals,” Professor Playard said, before pausing and looking around the room, which only took a couple seconds given the whole weird triangle layout. “But remember, commitment is key. I expect diligence. I will not hesitate to remove those who fail to exhibit proper behavior."

Finished with his intro, the professor walked around his desk and sat in the seat. Then, switching to a livelier tone, he said, "To break the ice, let’s play a short game of 'Two Truths and a Lie.' I’ll start:

“Who can discern the lie?"

Huh. Well… those are all pretty fricken crazy. Sixty-six days in a dungeon is a long time, but I guess it’s possible? I mean, some dungeons are deep, like really deep, so they might take that long. Or it could’ve been some research thing. The first seems possible for some skilled dungeon diver working for, what did he say, like thirty years or something? And for Celestria.

The second one seems very unlikely, but at the same time, some weaker dungeons could easily be cleared by an S tier. I think you’d usually still have a team but maybe it’s just a case of wrong place, wrong time. Like a rural dungeon that was about to break and there weren’t any skilled raiders nearby, at least none at a high enough tier to handle it except the sole S tier.

However, the third, is absolutely the least likely. Maybe Blanchard tried to fire him, but no way in hell was it for being ‘too sexy.’ For one, that’s just not a reason to fire someone, that’s a reason to bed them. And two, how could anyone ever believe this old-ass Professor Playard was too sexy? Definitely the third. Just no way that would ever happen.

“Any guesses?” Professor Playard asked, his eyes darting through everyone. “Come on, anyone!”

“Three?” A relaxed feminine voice called out from a couple rows in front of us, although there were four girls bundled up there so I couldn’t really tell where.

“Correctamundo!” He replied, standing straight up from his seat. He’s quite the movement-filled instructor… “Now, play a round with a partner or two.”

Melody and I turned to each other, both instantly asking, “Who first?”

Our eyes locked… and then we laughed for absolutely no reason. Other than the fact that we both said the same thing. Which isn’t funny at all. But it was. After a moment, Melody huffed out, “I’ll go.”

Once our fleeting giggles calmed, she began, “One, you’re beautiful. Two, you’re incredibly smart, and three, I don’t want to find a strap-on and fuck you right now.”

Melody… I groaned, blushing. “It’s supposed to be about you!”

“Oh, well.” Melody shrugged, shaking her head. “Which one, Scar?”

“The third.” Obviously. There’s no way she doesn’t want to have sex with me. And… I guess it kinda is about Melody. Since she thinks I’m beautiful and smart. I’m seriously nothing compared to her though.

“Correctamundo.” Melody smirked, gesturing to me. “Your turn.”

Since you did stuff about me… Ima do stuff about you. “One… I… want you to step on me… two… uh… you’re… cute… and three… I’m… err… you’re… ugly?”

Melody chuckled. “I wonder… it better be three. Otherwise you’ve got some lessons waiting for you.”

“C-correctamundo,” I mumbled. I should’ve said wrong… Some special lessons would be great. Really great. Special lessons in the form of being naked and pulled up onto Melody's lap as she forces me to repeat how beautiful she is while I suffer and squirm, begging for mercy.

A few minutes later, Professor Platford Playard brought everyone’s attention together with a couple claps. “I hope you all learned a little something about someone.”

Yep. Totally.

"As we begin our journey into leadership, understand that knowing your team and your limits is fundamental.” Playard paused, scanning the room, before continuing, “True comprehension comes from genuine conversation, learning about those you lead and relating to them.”

The professor walked away from his desk, strolling up to the unlucky student that chose the first row, left seat as their spot. He sat on the edge of the desk, and took a relaxed pose, leaning slightly backwards, toward the students left, while also inwards, toward the student, and lowered his voice significantly, no longer echoing through the room, although it was still audible, for us at least. “Adopt the role of a ‘friend’ rather than a ‘boss.’ Despite what the media may depict.”

He extended an arm, patting the probably terrified student’s shoulder, before climbing off and returning to his own desk. “In dungeons, this principle is even more critical, as a single mistake, stemming from a lack of trust or understanding, can cost lives, not just embarrassment."

Finished with his section, he took a couple steps forward, then continued, his arms less relaxed, and more swingy and shaky. "Now, to forge stronger bonds, sharing personal experiences is vital. It was the key to my continued employment at Celestria.”

Professor Playard returned to his desk and sat back down at his seat. “Large guilds never mess around with this. They all recognize the true strength of a leader is, even above strategy, communication—making a team function on a fundamental level. Without it, unless you’re X tier there’s no way you’ll ever earn a tenure.”

Playard stood up again. He seriously moves a lot for someone so old. “But in the same way a lack of communication will hinder a leader, so too will the other fundamentals: Righteousness, Integrity, Skill, and Patience, which, together with Communication, form the acronym CRISP. We’ll, of course, discuss this in further detail in future classes, but for a brief overview…”

As he walked in a couple circles around his desk, he explained, “Righteousness, adhering to morals, making fair and just decisions, regardless of how difficult. Integrity, acting with your morals, acting honestly, and keeping promises, and following through on decisions. Skill, know what you’re capable of, know what you lack, and recognize the same within your team. Finally, patience, take an objective view, problem solve, don’t let yourself turn to anger, be thoughtful and logical.”

After that, the professor sat down one final time. “All of these aspects form a great leader for the world in general, and an exceptional leader for dungeon raids. However, like I said, the most essential of all is communication and learning about your team. To facilitate that…”

Finished with his lecture, Professor Playard moved on to our assignments. Not very fun assignments. “I won’t make you do it today, but next class, I want you to reveal something personal—an embarrassing moment, an emotional memory, or something special that you usually keep private—to the entire class."

As we all groaned, regardless of how much we understood his purpose, given the long explanation he’d just given about the fundamentals of leadership, he continued, “That’s just a bonus though, your assignment for next class is a brief reflection. Write a paragraph or two about your thoughts on leadership. What does being a good leader mean to you? Remember, the path to improvement starts with understanding our own misconceptions and learning from them."

Lovely. Two assignments, from the first class, on the first day. At least the second isn’t a paper? Just a few paragraphs… it’s manageable. The first assignment though, fuck that. How the hell… what do I even share? I can’t think of anything.

After letting us ruminate on the assignments for a couple minutes, the professor stood up one final time, announcing, "We have a few more minutes. Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask about the assignment, the class, leadership, the school, or even about my experiences."

A couple people asked for a few random details about his experiences working at Celestria, to which he replied with glowing recommendations, glowing enough you’d think he’d been indoctrinated into a cult, but I guess Melody’s family is just that wonderful, with all the benefits imaginable. For their S tier raid team leaders of thirty-three years at least.

Once the questions finished up, he let us all go, and Melody and I left the room and took a look at our schedules. Our next class was First Year Team Strategy and Tactics in Building So, Room 101. I wonder what that “So” stands for.