Days went by.

For Azrael, they were a blur of studying, struggling, practicing and quietly praying to any god that would listen that nothing would happen.

He sat in class, his attention drifting. He had tried to pay attention for the first half of the lecture on advanced barrier theory, but his concentration was gone. His mind was now lost in its own dark, frustrating thoughts.

'Five days of non-stop practice,' he thought, a familiar frustration bubbling in his chest. 'Every muscle screaming, every bone aching, and for what? Not a single stat has increased. My rank is still the same. I need those damn Aether Stones. I need to get stronger.'

His mind drifted to the upcoming arcs, the moments where Kaelen was supposed to have his major power-ups. He thought of the legendary sword Kaelen would acquire from a hidden ruin, a weapon that could cut through demonic energy.

'Sorry, Kaelen,' he thought with a grim smile, 'but I need that more than you do. You have plot armor. I have a death flag.'

He also thought of the beast hunting quests, the rare monster cores Kaelen was supposed to farm for experience. 'Sorry again, hero. Guess I need to steal that, too. Survival of the fittest, and I'm definitely not the fittest right now.'

Tomorrow was the day. The first mission of what the manga had called Act 3. The Orc Hunt.

As the name suggested, it was one of the hardest events for Kaelen's start. The orcs were strong, their thick hides almost impenetrable to weak magic. In the original story, even Kaelen's strength and holy magic had been useless against them at first.

The author had written it that way to show the readers where the hero truly stood. He had struggled, been beaten down, but then the rest of the main cast had arrived to show off their power. Ultimately, they had worked together to eliminate the entire orc village that had been established deep in the forest.

'Me being here doesn't change that many things,' Azrael mused, his gaze drifting across the classroom. 'They'll still complete the quest. I just need to stay out of the way and not die.'

He looked over at Selyne. She gave a cheerful, energetic thumbs-up to a random girl who had just answered a question from the professor. He sighed.

'I don't know why, but when she's around, it feels like my cursed luck is multiplied. No, exponentialized. It's like she's a walking disaster magnet, and I'm the metal she sticks to.'

The day went on as usual. He glanced at Aelira, who still despised him with every fiber of her being. Then there was Silas, who had been surprisingly friendly these days, but Azrael knew he could create trouble for him at any moment.

Next was Aria, the same as in the manga. She was impossible to read, a blank slate of elegant indifference. He had no idea what she was plotting, or if she was even thinking at all.

And then there was Astrid. He looked at her. She was staring out the window, her posture relaxed, but her golden-yellow eyes were too sharp. With a slight shift of her gaze, she caught him staring at her. She turned her head.

Gulp.

Azrael quickly turned his sight away, his heart skipping a beat.

Selyne, sitting beside him, saw the exchange and glared at Astrid. In a ridiculously childish move, she flexed her bicep, which was about as thick as a toothpick, to remind the catgirl of their last fight.

Azrael muttered under his breath. "Fuck. This is my team. I'm done. And tomorrow, we have to work together."

A day passed. It was the day of the quest. The so-called greatest team on the first year was packed into a small, rattling academy bus, traveling to Wuhan village.

Azrael looked at the seating arrangement and let out a quiet, internal groan. There were six seats for the six of them, two per row, and the social dynamics were already a battlefield.

Aelira had taken both seats in her row for herself, sitting by the window and placing her bag on the empty seat beside her, a clear, unspoken message to the rest of them.

Astrid had done the same, and was now curled up across her two seats, calmly smoking, a thin trail of smoke drifting towards the ceiling.

The remaining two seats were occupied by Aria and Selyne, who were chatting quietly.

That left the floor. Azrael and Silas sat on the thin mat in the aisle, their backs against the seats, their legs cramped.

"How do you feel, Silas?" Azrael asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Enjoying the first-class treatment?"

Silas just laughed. "Hey, at least we have the best view. And we don't have to sit next to a racist princess or a smokestack." He leaned over. "Seriously, how can she get away with smoking on an official transport? Doesn't this place have rules?"

"Apparently, the rules only apply to people she can't beat up," Azrael muttered.

The bus finally came to a rough stop at the edge of a dusty road. They all moved outside. The driver gave them a nod, started the bus, and drove off, leaving them in a cloud of dust.

They had to figure everything out on their own. This was a real quest.

Silas had a map, and Azrael walked beside him as they led the way. Right behind them were Aria and Selyne, their conversation a low murmur.

Behind them, Aelira walked alone, her posture elegant and proud, as if the muddy road were a palace ballroom. Astrid was nowhere in sight. She had vanished the moment they stepped off the bus.

They reached the village and spoke to the elders. The story was always the same. People who went into the Alora forest were going missing.

The forest was the lifeblood of several villages, a source of income, food, and trade. Now, people were starving, and they were scared. Some had no choice but to go into the forest, and they never came back.

The quest they had been given was simple: stay in Wuhan and Kerua village and inspect the situation.

Azrael knew the truth from the start. He couldn't just tell them there was a whole orc village in the middle of the forest. What would they think? That he was an oracle? That he could see the future?

'The quest should be simple for me,' he thought. 'Well, it isn't as simple as it sounds, but with the rest of the cast here, it will be easy if I just cut myself out of the main fight. The teams would be spitted into two Aria, Silas and Selyne then Aelira, Astrid and Kaelen '.

It was then he realized. 'No way. What the fuck. I wont take his place'.

A discussion was going on while Azrael was lost in his thoughts. Aria, Silas, and Selyne were gathered around the map, planning their next move.

Azrael jumped in. "Guys, I think I've got the best idea for this quest."

Aria turned to him, her expression unreadable. "Sure. You can tell that to your new team."

He blinked. "What? What new team?"

Silas sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Bro, we thought about it for so long and came to a conclusion. We'll be splitting into two groups. One for Wuhan village, and the other for Kerua village. And the team is me, Aria, and Selyne. The rest of you are the other team."

Azrael's fist clenched at his side. Clench. "How can you do this? I'm a member of this team too. My views matter."

Aria, who had been quiet, spoke, her voice carrying an unshakable, logical authority. "Tell me, how would you split the team, then? Silas and I cannot be separated for a mission, you know that. That leaves the rest of you as variables."

She held up a finger. "Option one: we add you. That leaves Selyne alone with Astrid and Aelira. Given their current... relationship, that team would self-destruct in an hour. Option two: we take Astrid. That leaves you and Selyne to deal with Aelira's constant insults. A recipe for disaster. Option three: we take Aelira. That leaves you and Selyne with Astrid, the girl Selyne just declared war on."

She paused, her gaze unwavering. "Every combination is a failure. And besides, Selyne is our friend. You are a no one. Why would we form the teams around you?"

He tried to protest, but he couldn't find the words. She was right. The logic was flawless. It was a perfect, brutal takedown.

Selyne looked at Azrael's stunned face, then at her friends. "Don't worry, Azrael," she said, her voice full of a misplaced confidence. "No one will hurt you. I can make sure of it. Come on."

She grabbed his hand and began to drag him toward the edge of the village, where Astrid was leaning against a tree, smoking, her golden-yellow eyes watching them approach with cold amusement.

It was a ridiculous sight. A mother taking her scared son to face the neighborhood bully.

She stopped right in front of her.

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