How long had it been since Josh had attended school? Very long! Or that's how it felt at least…

<Climber High>'s building was long, two stories high, and the grey of boredom. Were they worried about the place looking too nice?

Josh could see many youngsters congregating around the entrance. It was still locked. Dario had sent him some more information early in the morning.

Apparently, the orientation Class would begin at 8:00 in the morning. It was currently 6:37. Why had Josh come so early? Well, the building would be opened by 7:00. That would let him ample time to explore on his own.

Before long, Josh could enter. Looking at the general layout of the place it seemed like the theoretical classes were on the second floor with the training ground below, the exception being a lecture hall that was closed.

Well, it made sense. Anyone that ever had upstairs neighbors will know about how much a ruckus it could cause. In the past, Josh had many times wondered if atop him lived a one-legged elephant pirate! At least that's what the woman sounded like!

The training rooms were actually locked. To access them one would need to use a key-card. The kind of security system that was easily bypassed really. Stealing the card of a youngster would be very hard, right?! Yes, notice the sarcasm, lots of it!

Then, Josh went upstairs. The classes were different from the ones on Earth. Sure it had chairs, desks, and a place for a teacher to stand, but it also had devices that were probably computers.

Josh approached a device. It was a small silver disk. As soon as he touched it, came a floating blue panel asking him to swipe his student card once more.

Now, why was Josh's own UW lacking such a cool feature?! No, instead he had to work with an extremely small screen!

That is when Josh heard the sound of the classroom door opening. As fast as a comet came a mumbling girl that was seemingly lost in thoughts and hadn't noticed Josh at all.

Her visage and aura clearly exuded youth yet a certain maturity. Her blond hair was flowing at shoulder length. She had a simple look without much makeup, not that she needed it. For some reason, she gave Josh the impression of a greenhouse flower that was excited about finally discovering a new world.

She stopped at the front of the class. Then while nervously tugging at the hem of her simple white dress she went:

"Hello everyone! I'm Amelia J- ah, I should probably skip that part."

"Hello everyone! I'm Amelia, I'm so excited to finally meet you all and to hopefully have some great time with all of you so we can create lasting memories of our time together. Then I truly hope were can form a group, maybe and - is that too long?"

"Hello, everyone! I'm Amelia, just a normal girl that loves antiques and wants to climb the Tower! Nice to meet you all!"

She then did a little cheering motion, happily raising her dainty fist a little in the air. Satisfied, she finally slowly raised her head and…made eye contact with Josh. Her eyes widened, her smile froze, panic could be seen in her eyes and she turned a color that a tomato would have been jealous of!

Josh couldn't help but chuckle. "Amelia, is it? I'm Josh. So do you often rehearse your speeches beforehand?"

"T-that! I-I…" Then she took a deep breath and calmed down instantly somehow. "Just this once!"

Oh? It wasn't that she had no experience in society. She had probably been home-schooled! Perhaps she had gained most of her social abilities at antique galleries?

"So, what brings you here? To this school I mean." Josh inquired.

"I want to explore the Tower! Can you imagine all the treasures that could be found inside?! Perhaps not just relics of our civilization but also others!"

She seemed very passionate. In fact, she spoke faster and in a higher pitch when the topic at hand was antiques. Josh felt that if she became a little more excited she could give popular rappers a run for their money haha.

Josh couldn't help but feel that she was probably right about the antiques. The Alter Tower had recreated a Mall on Earth directly after all. While Josh had these thoughts she had been talking incessantly.

In fact, she kept doing so with Josh nodding from time to time. She did all the way to the opening ceremony! She then realized how long she had been babbling for and blushed furiously once more!

They both headed to the lecture hall. Many were already seated, before a podium was a man that looked very diligent and was wearing a clean white suit. Josh could see that the man was obviously a Climber, one stronger than himself. Before long he spoke to the hundred or so attendee.

"Hello everyone! I am the principal! Welcome to <Climber High!> It is my pleasure to welcome you all to my humble establishment! Now, there are many of you with us today. Some are youngsters, some are slightly older too and are joining the program with the government's blessings!"

As he said that, he surveyed the entire Hall before continuing.

"Now, no matter your background, Class, or even progress in the Tower I believe everyone will be able to learn something at my establishment. Of course, there is a lot we ignore about the Tower and are discovering new things every day. This means that you should never take anything you learn here for granted!"

Josh couldn't help but think that was the perfect way to deny responsibility haha. Well, it wasn't wrong either.

"Now, your student cards will be distributed! Make sure you keep them preciously! These will give you access to all our facilities and tools. It will also serve as your identification for Tower-related party-finding."

Of course, they would push for people to make a party. Josh felt like party cohesion was extremely important, but that it would ultimately boil down to individual skills and adaptability.

Before long, Josh was handed his card. His picture on it clearly looked like a mug shot! It seemed to have been taken in the Draconic's elevator. Then he followed as people were divided into three groups.

The difference between the three was the speed at which they would go over the curriculum. Josh was obviously in the fastest group. He didn't have much time to waste on this BS.

In the morning they would have theoretical lessons and in the afternoon practical lessons. Josh could see that Amelia was almost literally shining.

Then they were guided to a classroom where a man was waiting. He seemed like the steady kind. He too was wearing a suit, a black one. Just by the way he was standing Josh could feel that he was a proud man.

He was eying the newcomers intently, apparently trying to estimate their potential. Josh couldn't help but notice that the eyes of the man lit up when it came to Amelia. Whoever she was, either she had some capability or her background wasn't simple.

Taking a seat near a window like a proper main protagonist, Josh awaited the man's lecture.

"Welcome all, I am Algor, your new teacher. You guys are lucky haha you get the best of the best! The principal had to beg me to come haha."

Josh hoped for the principal that he hadn't begged in vain, so far he quite disliked the guy.

"In my class, I won't wait for anyone! If you feel like I'm going too fast you guys can switch! In a week from now, you guys will be able to Climb the Tower with a dedicated group without any issue!"

Climb the Tower for sure? Which part? The early one that everyone knew about or the Floors getting cleared by the rankers? There was a huge difference between both concepts.

Still, that was extremely fast. How would he do such a thing? It needed to be known that Josh had spent way longer training on Earth.

"Alright, now use your student ID and scan it on the Universal-Desk! Then in your profile section, there should be your basic information and a class section. You will find our class's plan there."

Josh did as he was told. Soon he could see the whole plan for the week.

<Theory>

Day 1 All you need to know about the Tower!

Day 2 Floor 1-10

Day 3 Floor 11-20

Day 4 Floor 21-30

Day 5 Floor 31-40

Day 6 No theory = Combat Evaluation

Day 7 No theory = Tower Outing

<Practical>

3 x VR practice lv 1

3 x VR practice skills

1 x Combat Evaluation

1 x Tower Outing

Goal = Become the next rankers!!

The teacher was smiling confidently while the students were browsing the plan. Josh understood that the plan was for them to start Climbing as soon as possible. They would then learn as they went.

Josh could already see flaws in such planning! Would he expose it right there and then? Perhaps...