Evelyn's voice faded into the background, inside Raviel's head. His mind was now preoccupied with other important thoughts as he watched five of the most striking individuals in the classroom, each with looks and talent that could not be compared to the rest. Their presence truly outshone everyone else.

Raviel leaned back in his seat and let his eyes wander around.

Near the front, Ezio and Isabelle were sitting together. Isabelle laughed softly whenever Ezio stared blankly at the wall beside him, almost falling asleep for few times.

Ezio's handsome face made many girls present fawn over him. Seeing this, Isabelle smirked devilishly.

'Took you a hundred chapters to realise your feelings, still you are faster to realise than those rom-com female leads'.

Raviel, leaning back slightly more, looked to his left and noticed Aron staring with intense focus at Evelyn, who was teaching basic mana conservation and battle tactics.

Beside Aron sat a girl with raven-black hair and deep blue eyes that shimmered in the incoming sunlight from one of the windows.

Raviel recognised who she was. That girl was Cinnia Amberose — 'Invictus heir' and future companion of the group.

Raviel's gaze shifted again.

Valerie was seated two chairs beside Isabelle. Her hair was a darker shade of silverish-white, darker than Raviel's by a few tones. It was tied in an effortless bun, with a few loose strands framing her face, giving her a soft porcelain doll-like look. Her pink irises caught the flowing rays of the sun, making her eyes glow with almost a pinkish hue.

'...Beautiful'.

This was the only thought that came to Raviel's mind while staring at Valerie — 'the glacial heir' and one of the main leads in the story, who had her own alternate side story in the novel.

'These are the people who will change this entire era'. Raviel whispered silently to himself.

The strongest survivors.

A small smile tugged at his lips as he turned his attention back to the front.

Evelyn continued explaining yesterday's topic, her voice steady and clear, going over mana fundamentals again for the newly present students. Raviel straightened in his seat, listening properly this time.

The class went on for few more hours as Evelyn switched from fundamentals to core and complex preventive measures, during her lesson no one dared to utter a single word from their mouths.

Seeing the room silent, Evelyn clapped her hands once, bringing everyone's attention back to her.

"Well I have some exciting news for you guys," she said, her tone casual as her eyes swept over the whole classroom.

"After your first practical, clubs will be recommended to you based on your performance and compatibility. You are free to enroll in any of the clubs aside from the recommended ones, of course."

The moment her words reached every student's ear, the classroom came alive.

A few students straight-up started fantasising about which clubs to choose. Someone behind Raviel muttered, "Finally", like they'd been waiting for this since their birth.

Hearing a slightly deeper voice to his side.

Raviel glanced to his left.

Aron turned slightly toward Cinnia and asked in a low hushed voice. "Which club are you going to choose?"

Cinnia didn't even bother to look in his direction. "The slandering club", she said calmly.

Aron blinked once. Raviel could notice the slight twitch on his lips even from the opposite side.

Cinnia continued, her tone flat but serious, "It seems I need to up my game in this art."

For a split second, Aron's make-shift smile twitched, like he was fighting the urge to react. Then he looked ahead without bothering, as if nothing had been said.

Raviel stared at them for a few moments.

'Sucks to be you...you misanthropic piece of shit!. Go Cinnia go!... I support you in your earnest endeavours.

Raviel started cheering for Cinnia, since before reading the novel, he had always bad-mouthed her personality, but seeing this, his initial opinion seemed to have changed drastically.

....

In the innovative training grounds.

The class-S and class-A students were combined for the session. Instructor Leo led them through one of the restricted zones.

The innovative training grounds were huge, even bigger than the normal ones, with upgraded facilities, better reinforcement, and multiple split zones for different types of intensive training regimes.

After bringing them together, instructor Leo guided the students with soul-weapons to a separate area to practice on their own, while class-A students were told that this was their day to choose their weapons.

As the crowd moved, a loud voice echoed from a corner.

"Robert!".

A boy with neatly combed hair immediately stood out through the surrounding chatter.

"Yes, Master Adrian".

The one who called him — Adrian — tucked a strand of his hair back and smirked. "Doesn't Lady Isabelle look lovely today?"

Robert followed his gaze and nodded weakly. "Indeed, she does look lovely".

Adrian's eyes drifted farther... and landed on Ezio who was standing beside Isabelle, discussing something while Valerie stood with them. The smile on Adrian's face slowly turned into something darker and more hostile.

He clicked his tongue. "Tell me something, Robert. If I choose to duel Ezio, would I win?"

'Nah, you'd lose.' The thoughts danced in Robert's mind, but he didn't dare to voice them out.

With a weak groan and slight hesitation, he murmured. "If we look according to the circumstances of—".

"Would I win or not?".

Robert trembled hearing the tone. "N-no!".

Adrian froze for a second.

"Still, he said, eyes sharp, "I'd still like to make an impression on Lady Isabelle today.

Before Robert could say anything else, Adrian walked straight toward Instructor Leo. The chatter around them died down as Adrian wasn't just any student but a heir of a big business conglomerate, his father was also one of the founders of the biggest pharmaceutical company— 'VitaNorm pharmaceuticals'

Seeing him confidently walking towards instructor Leo, some of the class-A students paused.

"I'd like to request a duel," Adrian said confidently, pointing toward Ezio.

"Against him."

The moment the words left his mouth, the entire training ground went silent.

Whispers exploded instantly.

Instructor Leo looked between the two of them for a moment, then nodded.

"Request approved," he said calmly. "And for everyone listening, lower-ranked students are allowed to challenge upper-ranked students. If you win, you can steal a portion or all of their credits."

That single line sent a ripple through the crowd.

A lot of students started smirking.

Ezio rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Great!. My first day just went down the drain."

Isabelle leaned closer and smiled sweetly. "Break a leg."

Ezio glanced at her sideways. "This is totally because of you, Isa. That guy's been staring at you since the beginning of the class."

She didn't deny it. She just smiled wider. "That's why I said break a leg," she replied, putting some extra stress on the words.

Ezio laughed under his breath and shook his head.

He stepped forward and looked at Instructor Leo. "I accept."

The moment he said that, the training grounds erupted with noise. Almost all the students started moving toward the duel platform, not wanting to miss even a second of the fight.

Raviel didn't move towards the platform.

Instead, he turned and looked around for a particular student.

Seeing Elias Smith standing just a few feet away. Raviel called out to him.

The boy flinched, then looked over.

"Y-yeah?".

"Practice with me," Raviel asked.

Elias hesitated, then nodded. "Sure."

They moved toward an empty section of the training grounds, far from the noise gathering around Ezio's duel. Raviel stopped, rolled his shoulders once, and lifted his hand.

"Come".

That was all he said.

Elias didn't hold back. He drew his sword and lunged forward, blade cutting through the air with a sharp whoosh. His footing was solid like a professional.

'Nice footwork. Better than mine'.

At the last second, Raviel stepped in instead of backing up. Gravity compressed around his fist, dense and heavy, layered with a thin crackle of lightning. Elias's eyes widened as Raviel caught the blade barehanded.

Elias grunted.

Before Elias could react, Raviel drove his fist forward.

THUD—!.

The punch landed square in Elias's solar plexus. All the air blasted out of him as his body folded, stumbling back with a choking gasp.

But Elias didn't drop.

He clenched his teeth, his eyes sharpened with mana flaring in his body, and he flicked his hand. A sharp burst of water shot toward Raviel's face.

Raviel twisted aside, droplets grazing his cheek. Another slash came — then another. Elias pressed harder now, attacks coming faster, sharper and timed.

Raviel dodged. Stepped. Slipped past the blade.

He grabbed Elias's wrist mid-swing and froze.

Up close, Raviel saw it.

Marks— faint but visible. They were etched around his entire wrist. Not scars but they looked more like suppression marks.

Raviel's grip loosened.

Elias yanked his hand back, breathing hard, eyes wide — with an uncertain emotion behind them.

Then —

"EZIO WINS!"

The roar from the platform shook the ground.

Raviel released Elias fully and stepped back. "Good practice match", he said simply.

Elias stared at him for a second, then nodded, swallowing. "Yes".

Raviel turned away after seeing him leave.

'You are really a suspicious person, Elias Smith, but the real question is — who are you...really? The novel never mentioned any rank 145 in class-S, even if I avoid going by the novel's plot....then why were you never mentioned if you were strong'.

Raviel felt it, something was wrong, as even if Elias was a rank one hundred forty-five, his real strength far surpassed that mark.

Raviel decided to look into the boy named Elias Smith once more.

Raviel walked toward the platform, eyes already searching for Ezio, mind racing as he wondered.

'How long did it take this time? And just how badly did Adrian get beaten? Did I miss the beating? Shit...I really wanted to see it.'

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