Rein was sitting in class, as usual, that day when the teacher made the announcement. Rein had been waiting for this day ever since he entered the academy. It was finally his chance at ranking up from class D, ridding himself of the 1 quest per week limitation. Class C was able to do 3 quests per week, allowing them to amass more rol and points. But more importantly, it allowed him to explore the continent more freely, with the excuse of taking these quests.

Throughout the past month, Rein was meditating whenever he had time to do so, enabling him to level up some of his skills further.

​​

Memory Flip ++: Every 1 hour, allows you to copy a Spring from your inverse history for 30 minutes

Liquid Slots +: Allows the System to store 3 Springs at once, allowing the wielder to switch between the two at will. (This does NOT allow the user to wield both Springs at once like STO, but it does make it so he can change between them individually.)

Built Different +: Allows you to make an object, or yourself, indestructible for 10 seconds. Cooldown is based on the damage it absorbed

"Here are the final rankings:"

Class S:

1. Clyde Morioh (S+) (1350 points)

2. Sho Anagi (S+) (950 points)

3. Chloe Orthlysia (S+) (900 points)

4. Alyssa Osborne (750 points)

5. Derek Snyder (600 points)

6. Eleanor Cherry (600 points)

Class A:

7: Lance Bowman (800 points)

8: Reggie Greybrewer (775 points)

9: Elaine Barkridge (750 points)

10:Tiarus Ilifiel (550 points)

11: Sid Magnus (550 points)

12: William Curtis (550 points)

Class B:

13: Quint Vossen (525 points)

14: Lamarr Shepherd (475 points)

15: Sano Sanraku (450 points)

16: Patricia Virvyre (0 points)

17: Elyon Orirel (0 points)

18: Tanaga Yugoyaki (0 points)

Class C:

19: Kai Bihorn (430 points)

20: Alan Waris (425 points)

21: Stacey George (400 points)

22: Gilbert Cohen (350 points)

23: Aito Motoka (0 points)

24: Ardryll Pabanise (0 points)

Class D:

25: Xenia Vossen (710 points)

26: Rein Xilris (525 points)

27: Core (490 points)

28: Candice Eilstina (D-) (120 points)

29: Roger Bentely( D-) (100 points)

30: Mizubuki Daikuro (D-) (100 points)

"I see a few of you dumbasses with 0 points. Mind explaining?" Ms. Zophia scolded.

"Hahaha, these other idiots haven't realized that you don't actually need to do any commissions! Even if you are in the bottom 3, as long as you don't lose the advancement battle, you're fine! I've just been chilling with my gang for the past month, nothing like you hard-working suckers," Tanaga laughed as he put his legs up on his desk.

"Fucking idiot," Quint remarked, catching Tanaga's attention, angering him.

"The hell'd you say?! I'll kill your ass!" Tanaga stood up, along with 5 others to surround Quint, who didn't bat an eye at their attempt to jump him.

"Hey, you had 350 points, didn't you? What are you doin' hangin' out with these lazy dweebs," Quint remarked to one the boys who surrounded him.

"While I did gather points for my own ambitions of being with lady Elaine, I am still part of the Tanagang," the blue-haired man exclaimed proudly, the rest of the class promptly bursting into intense laughter.

"BAHAHAHAHA. 'TANAGANG?' WHAT KIND OF BRAIN-DEAD NAME IS THAT?" Quint howled as he slapped his chest out of amusement.

The entire class was wailing along with him, with the exception of Lance, making the group of 6 surrounding Quint quiver in embarrassment.

"Well, why'd you go and say that Gilbert?! You embarrassed us all you moron!" Tanaga whispered loudly.

"You were the one who came up with the name! I told you we should've named it the Gilgang!" Gilbert retorted.

"That sounds even stupider!" Tanaga punched him on the head as they suddenly heard a loud crack come from the front of the room, the teacher having just bent a metal pipe in her rage.

"Quiet down you fucking brats, or else this metal pipe will be bent over your heads next time," she threatened, the class instantly ceasing their laughter as the gang returned to their seats in record time.

As Gilbert passed behind Lance to get back to his seat, Lance whispered something to him, making his skin crawl in fear.

"You—! You menace!" Gilbert yelled at Lance, suddenly feeling a bullet whizz by his face, the teacher having spat out her cigarette with the intention of hitting Gilbert.

"Shut the hell up. Next time, I won't miss."

"Yes ma'am…" Gilbert remarked feebly, putting his head down silently as he sat at his seat.

"Anyway, now that you've all shut your mouths, I need you to get into your groups. If you're in the top 3, group up with the other top 3s, if you're in the bottom 3, group up with the other bottom 3s. After that, follow me to the academy arena. We have it all to ourselves today for our practical exam. Julianne is gonna be watching too, so don't fuck up. I would say no pressure, but I don't really give a shit about your mental state," she coldly remarked as she left the room, taking out another cigarette from her pack.

The class promptly stood up and grouped with the other 3 in their groups. Rein, Core, and Xenia formed a team and began walking down the stairs towards the exit of the classroom. On the way, Rein inspected the rest of the teams with the corner of his eyes, noticing that Lance, Reggie, and Elaine still had an awkward air to them.

Reggie hadn't been acting normally since he returned from the S rank quest with Clyde and Sho, which further accented the awkwardness between Elaine and Lance, who were still fighting. He saw the group he was against, Gilbert Cohen, Aito Motoka, and Ardryll Pabanise. The only one he viewed as a potential threat was Gilbert, whom's Spring he had already copied.

Original Effect:

When in battle, you are able to use your target's attack stat instead of your own.

Inverted Effect:

When in battle, you are able to use your target's defense stat instead of your own.

While Gilbert could not see attack stats, he still could prove to be an issue if he used either Rein or Xenia's attack stat in the battle. Even if Rein inverted his Spring, it would still be an issue if he used any of their defenses.

Rein and his team followed after the teacher, as more and more of the class grouped up and followed them, all of them making their way to the academy arena, where they saw the principal, vice-principal, and teacher all waiting at the main lobby.

"Is that everybody? Perfect, then we may begin," Wallace greeted as the whole class gathered.

"Alright! I'll be introducing this month's practical exam to you all! Um…. Zophie, you explain the rules!" Julianne announced, her request making Ms. Zophia bite down on her cigarette in annoyance.

"You just said you'd do it you stupid bitch! Fuck, whatever. As I explained to you all, it'll be simple 3 vs 3's. Killing is evidently not allowed, knock out your opponents or make them surrender to win. There are a few other technicalities regarding the S+ and the D- group. Your positions are by no means safe, else the D- would've already been expelled. At the end of the exam, the students in class D and class S will fight amongst themselves. The D- will fight the other D's, and the S+ will fight the S.

The winner of those will be solidified as that position. What I'm saying is, if you're in the bottom 3 of C and you lose once, you'll drop down to D, and if you lose again in D, you could be getting expelled today," she explained, which the students already knew, but still made certain ones grow uneasy.

"Alright, thank you for that Zophie! Now, let us begin the first match. Class D top 3 vs Class C bottom 3! Please make your way into the arena! The rest of you, go up to the stands and spectate," Julianne declared.

Rein, Core, and Xenia got ready to enter the arena while the rest of the class went up to the bleachers, the bottom 3 of class C walking to the other side of the arena to enter and discuss their strategies.

"I'll win this for you lady Elaine!" Gilbert yelled before he left.

"I know you don't need me to tell you this, but please kick his ass. I'll be waiting for you in class S," Lance whispered to Rein before he went up the stairs to the bleachers.

"Will do," Rein replied.

Suddenly, they heard gasps of amazement emerge from the bleachers, the spectators seemingly in awe with what they saw in the arena.

"Wow! How did they even do this?"

"I don't know, but if every battle is gonna be like this, I'm actually getting excited!"

The voices of amazement continued as Rein, Core, and Xenia suddenly heard the door creak open, lifting itself to unveil what the arena had in store for them.