Approximately a week has passed since the mammon's den incident, and the school did rather well to recover. The fear of the principal's wrath was instilled deep down in the hearts of every student, and no one dared to deviate much from the law despite the obvious benefits, the risk was no longer worth it.

It had almost been a month of school now, and teachers were preparing to send off their soldiers in the making to their first formal exam. This would be their first taste of what soldiers did— they would be entrusted to complete their own week-long mission. Students would form teams and be given missions on various planets around the galaxy with a specific task in mind. Of course, since they were still young students in training, they would be accompanied by several instructors that would both keep them safe, grade their performance from afar and provide hints and advice when needed.

It was all assigned rather abruptly in order to simulate how a mission could happen at any time, so students were not given much time to prepare in advance.

Moby's and the mammon's plans of controlling the student body seemed to have been put at a temporary halt until these exams were over. Still, he did not seem to mind considering it would allow the mammon to even further prepare and implement his plan on a much larger scale when the time came.

Currently, it was the morning of that very same exam, and students were on their way to class, eager to find out who they would be teamed up with.

Many of them were rather excited to prove their might in front of the instructors while others were far more apprehensive. However, there were still some wishing for chances to be more devious and selfish, it was almost as if the principal's warnings meant nothing to them or they did not even hear her at all, such was the case for this man marching through the hallway with far too much going on under his frowning and smirking expression.

Moby had gotten to class fairly early that day, and he simply waited in his desk patiently watching as his fellow students slowly trickled in through the door. However, there were others that were already present before he even entered, in fact, the first thing he saw as he came in was a certain blonde and orange-haired man talking to his tired-looking teacher, and Moby would have been lying if he said that he was not surprised to see him.

It was a man that was not even supposed to be a part of his combat class and a man he had not seen in a very long time… Regrit's brother, Kai.

It seemed like he was let out of his prison either today or during the weekend. The school had managed to keep the fact of his defeat and mana illness a secret by telling people he was undergoing secret training, so it made people look up to him even more.

He had almost forgotten all about him, the last time he even had him on his mind was around a week ago when he attempted to visit him out of goodwill, only to be told off by the nurse who adamantly pushed the fact that he was in no mood for any visitors.

As he entered, they exchanged initial glances as Moby went to his seat and said his greetings to his superior.

It only took a few minutes for the rest of the class to arrive, and all of them stared up at the new face standing at the front of their class.

But, out of everyone that entered, there seemed to be one crucial man missing, he was fashionably late as usual, but it was not too long after did he set foot into the room.

The look of shock on his face was more than evident, it almost felt exaggerated with his eyes wide open and his jaw slightly dropped.

"Professor, excuse me if I'm interrupting, but what is he doing here?" He smiled clumsily towards the professor, a visible vein popping out of his head, his fists tightly clenched and his gaze growing keener.

"Oh, I'm glad you're here boy, I thought you would be glad to see your brother here after his long days of independent training,"

"NO! I'm not! I was happy to know that at least I was spared from seeing his face during combat class. Please explain to me why he is here…"

"Come on… Why can't we get along brother?"

"Silence! You're no brother of mine… Don't you dare claim so in front of anyone…"

"Well, This is exactly why he's here today. Due to that very problem! Your parents specifically asked that you two be put on the same team for exams so you can get along better. This was also because you are both likely to work together in the future when you join your family's guild. We usually don't entertain any favours, but your family has done us many favours in the past, and such a small thing would be no problem."

Regrit's once keen eyes grew open as soon as the teacher uttered those words, and the realization of what was truly happening fully dawned on him as he looked over at his smiling sibling.

"I would like to voice my disapproval, I wish not to be paired with him. But... Very well… I'll respect the decision of the school… But, I can assure you that my relationship with him will become no better than it is now… So, if you will excuse me, I will go back to my seat and wait for my team to be announced…"

As he walked away, Regrit seemed calm on the outside, yet the signs of a volcano ready to explode were clear to those that knew him. Moby could not believe how reasonably he took that interaction while still voicing his gripes, not even a single swear word. In fact, Moby didn't even know that Regrit had the ability to speak like that, especially under pressure. It seemed like he was holding himself back from saying something that would get him in trouble or even expelled. It was clearly not worth the outburst for him in order to complete his goals.

"I understand Oswald, even still, I wish you the best of luck with your brother. A brotherly bond is very strong and can help overcome much in this world…" Professor Zave smiled toward's Regrit's back as he sat down, and not too long after did the announcements go on, along with the international anthem.

"Well! It appears as though everyone is present, so no need for attendance!" Professor Zave clapped his hands and seemed even more excited than before as he brought out a bright red, metallic box that had a hole gaping from the top. "As you know, with this exam we are simulating the fact that you will be paired with different people at random when it comes to certain missions, even if you absolutely despise them! For the sake of the mission, you will be required to work together despite your grievances!" He panned a look towards a seemingly calm Regrit that began to show slight cracks through his mask.

"However! This year we will arrange one aspect slightly differently! Artorias, can you please come to the front of the class for me?" He lifted his hands and softly pointed at his direction, and following his fingers the class's gaze was also led towards him too and his sitting, cross-armed figure.

"Very well professor, I shall do what you command," He confidently stood out of his seat, and with an air of high and mighty elegance marched up to the class and bowed awaiting further orders.

"Artorias, you will be given an option to choose your very own team and not be part of this lottery. In a real-life situation, there will always be teams of elites reserved to be deployed in very specific instances. You, as the clear strongest person in the class, will be responsible to pick out your own team out of your fellow classmates in a way similar to how it works in real life. But, be warned that if you do go down this path, the mission you will be given will reciprocate your decision. So, what will it be? Who will be your team of 6?"