Mannon continued to speak, but Rin could barely hear him over the sound of her heart thumping in her ears. Elisa D'Ana, the woman who had given Rin one of the best nights of her life, in terms of sex anyway, a few years ago, was standing right there, to her left.

The tall woman stood proudly, her toned, muscular arms on her hips as she listened intently.

There were so many details about her that Rin had forgotten about over time. Her sharp jawline, her elegant, green eyes, her hair which looked like it was set ablaze, and her fair skin.

[... She's even hotter than I remember, by the Divine,] Rin thought as she took a deep breath and breathed in the woman's scent. An alluring lavender. [Her arms... She could carry me and pin me to a wall like it's nothing.]

Rin bit her lips as she tried hard to push these thoughts away.

[Stop it,] she told herself. [You're in the middle of a speech, this is no time to get thirsty.]

Mannon said something about their next steps, but Rin outright couldn't hear him at this point. Especially when Elisa was smirking right at her, with one of those fine fire-red brows raised up at her.

[Wait, what?]

"Seems exciting, right?" Elisa whispered to her, and that was when Rin realized she'd been caught staring.

"Y-Yeah," Rin nodded like an idiot.

"Hehe," Elisa chuckled and looked away. Rin tried then to stop gawking at her.

[... Ugh, come on, Rin. Get it together. It doesn't matter. You're here, you should be paying attention. So, stop it.]

"Here's what we're going to do," Mannon said and Rin thanked him in her mind for the distraction. "At the secretary's table, you all know and love her by now, I'm sure, you'll pick up your adventurer's token. It's a large coin that has your name and rank on it, don't lose it, don't forget about it. You'll be using this thing a lot on your travels."

As Mannon spoke, Rin tried to sneak a glance at her again, but as her eyes fell on the blonde, she looked away, hoping not to get caught again.

"Then, you're going to head over to the third floor. In classroom 3 – A, all of your teachers will be there to introduce themselves. Then, the last step is simple. You're going to head up to the fourth floor, to the physical training center. There, you're going to fight."

The students started whispering amongst themselves.

"Fight? Why?" Eve asked.

"All of us?" John Ates, Carla's friend, asked.

"Quiet!" Mannon said loudly. Everyone was silenced. "Just for a few minutes to gauge everyone's level, see where you're all at. It's just one fight too, it's not a tournament or anything. We just want to see who's more experienced and who's lagging behind, so that the teachers know who to work on and how."

With that, he leaned back in his chair and said, "alright, go get your tokens and report to the teachers."

One by one, with John and Carla at the front of the group, the students all went back inside. Somehow, Rin ended up walking next to the stoic girl with the strange sword. [Sara? Should I say something? Seems a little awkward if I don't.] Rin thought as she looked around and noticed a few of the students already talking amongst themselves. John and Carla were clearly friends, but behind them, it sounded like Alea Marina was making some kind of joke to Seth, one that, surprisingly, the boy actually laughed at. [May as well give it a shot.]

"So… This is kind of exciting, isn't it?" Rin did her best to give a smile to the girl next to her. Sara emotionlessly turned towards her. She didn't say anything.

She just stared back at Rin, as though she was frozen.

Three, four, five seconds passed.

[...Did I make her mad or something?]

"Yes," Sara replied quietly, nodding.

That was the only response Rin got.

"U-Uh, yeah." Rin gulped.

[Whoa. She's scary.]

"Hey, Rin!" It was the fairy. Eve flew over to Rin and the brunette was happy for the interruption of… Whatever that last conversation was. "After all this, how about I show you around?"

"Oh, uh, are you sure?" Rin asked, feeling slightly bashful under the girl's energy.

"Yeah! I mean, this city is huge! You'll never learn where you need to go on your own. It'll be quick! I'll show you some nice spots and we'll head back" Eve said with her arms stretched wide. She almost hit Sara in the face, but the girl ignored it. "There are a ton of places that you really do need to know if you're going to be working here, especially. So, how about it?"

[She's right.] Rin scratched behind her head. [I don't want to trust anyone yet, but I do need to see where I can get stuff, whether it's food, clothes, medicine. Yeah, I guess I have to take her up on this.]

"Sure." Rin shrugged.

"Awesome!"

The secretary looked up at the approaching group and opened up some sort of briefcase that held the tokens inside.

"Go ahead." She said.

The tokens were cleared out and each of the students was inspecting them. Rin analyzed hers. It was a large iron coin with words carved into it. It read:

[Rin Asahiro]

[Age 20]

[Place of Birth: Dren]

[Rank - D]

"It's heavier than I thought it would be," Eve noted.

"What's this fo- ah!" Rin poked her finger on a small spike that was on the bottom of the token.

"Hm? Oh, one of the teachers will explain." The secretary noted dismissively. "Now, go."

The students did just that. This time, however, since there were way too many of them, they took the stairs up instead of the elevator. Three floors later and Rin was almost on the ground dry-heaving. She was genuinely that out of shape.

Most of the other students had no trouble, the only one Rin saw showing any tiredness like hers was the "kindergarten teacher" as Rin referred to in her mind, Lisa. The others, mostly, had no problem at all.

"These stairs are something else. It's… Oh, goodness," Lisa said next to her with a laugh, "it's easy enough for them. We're walking with weights though," she giggled, patting one of her boobs and at that, Rin chuckled too. "Come on," Lisa helped her stand properly. "Let's go. Thick girls stick together, and all."

"Right," Rin smiled up at her as she took her hand.

Room 3 – A was right next to the stairs and the elevator. It was a "classroom" in name only though. The place was an actual garden. There were some wooden benches scattered throughout, but mostly, all Rin saw were flowers.

There were four people standing at the far back of the garden and they were in the middle of a conversation. One of them, an impossibly large man with an ax on his back bigger than Rin herself, was speaking to…

[Holy shit, is that Cara?] Rin thought when she saw the woman dressed in steel armor. She recalled how the woman looked and, sure enough, Cara ticked every box. A strong frame, a mean, weathered face.

"… course she's not here yet." The man with the ax on his back said.

"We don't know what's keeping her, stop it," Cara told him.

"That cocky bitch thinks just because she's the only S, she can show up whenever she fucking wants to."

"And she's right." Cara glared at him. "So, stop."

"…" At that, Eli mumbled something Rin couldn't hear.

That was the last piece of the conversation before each of the students came in. A few of them quickly sat down on the benches, Carla and John sat on one to the front, Seth, Alea, and Lisa all sat on one to the right. Dylan and Sara both remained on their feet, while Eve and Rin took one in the middle. Varyn leaned against a wall while Elisa sat on top of what Rin assumed to be an old teacher's desk at the side.

"Alright." One middle-aged man started. He had messy smooth grey hair coupled with the smirk and pose of someone who thought they were the smartest in the room. "Welcome, welcome new blood. My name is Harriton Concord, Rank B. I will be teaching you all things Essence-related. We'll get into more details about that tomorrow. As for now though, let's get our names out of the way."

He nodded toward the man with the ax. He took a step forwards and the look in his eyes made Rin feel like she was being insulted.

"Name's Eli, Rank A. I'll be handling your conditioning. You don't show to one of my classes, then when a goblin's eating your entrails for dinner, you'll regret it."

Cara stepped forwards. She was about to speak but then, her eyes fell on Rin and she paused, raising a brow.

[Wait.] Rin felt her heart almost stop. [Does she remember me? If she does...] The last thing she needed was anyone gossiping about her past job. [But… I had my disguise on back then. Maybe she won't.]

Cara looked away and began speaking.

"My name is Cara Cross. I am a Rank A adventurer, and I will be handling your Zoology class. We will be studying each of the creatures you will be hunting. My hope is that no matter what you face, you will never be caught off guard." Her voice commanded respect in a way Rin hadn't seen since Jay.

The last one, however, was a fragile old woman with bright sunlight-colored hair.

"Hello, I am Carliah D'Ana. And I will be your culture teacher."

Wait, D'Ana? Rin looked back to gauge Elisa's response, but the woman wasn't even paying attention. She had her arms behind her head, her legs crossed.

"It is my job to ensure that wherever you go you understand the history behind them."

[So, she basically teaches history?]

One of the students raised their hand. John, the boy in the business-like outfit.

"Excuse me, I think I missed it, what's your rank?" John asked.

"I do not have one, I am not an adventurer."

"What?" John replied and Rin shared the sentiment.

"I am the cultural and historical expert here. I do not fight, I advise the academy on what is the most ethical course of action whenever they are operating in stranger lands."

"And there you go." Harriton stepped in, "now, we have one more teacher but… She's not-"

"Not what?" A voice called out as someone walked inside.

Rin turned around once more and found a short, happy-looking woman casually walking up to the teachers. She was dressed in the kinds of robes Rin would usually see priests wear. "I may have arrived late, but I am here."

Despite how bold he was acting before, Eli, the ax-wielder, held his tongue now. Rin couldn't even hear her footsteps. It was like she was walking on air, floating her way to the other teachers.

"I apologize, but better late than never," she said to them, before turning to the students. "Hello, my name is Maria Camille and I am Rank S." Her words must have carried a weight Rin didn't fully understand because it was like the room took a collective gasp. "I will be your Combat Tactics and Dueling teacher."

"You?" Rin heard someone say and she found Seth smirking. "No offense but you look like you should be tutoring my fucking-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the woman suddenly disappeared. Rin blinked and then, she heard Seth choke.

Rin looked back and her eyes widened when she saw Maria standing beside him, with her left hand closed into a fist, hovering over Seth's throat.

"Young man," Maria said, with a light-hearted tone and a kind smile, "I assure you, I am more than capable of teaching this course and have proven myself many, many times. Please, do not worry about my qualifications. Do you understand?"

During that sentence, Rin noticed that she threw a side-glance at the man with the ax. Then, she patted his shoulder.

"You are in good hands!"

She walked back to the others.

"Well, alright then." Harriton laughed. "There you have it! We will be your teachers throughout this year. Here's what's going to happen, now you're all going to go with Ms. Camille up to the fourth floor. Here, you'll be tested on your fighting ability and by tomorrow, you'll have your training set up. You will have three school days per week, with the rest of the week meant for you to practice and train on your own, honing your skills and memorizing the knowledge you're given in class. Now, this is important, listen up," he said, "every couple of weeks, you'll be sent out on a mission. We will determine that mission based on the estimated skill level of the adventurer being sent, but what I'm trying to say is that means that in two weeks from today, you will be sent on an actual adventurer's mission. All of you, individually. Listen closely, you must ensure that you are, at the very least, ready to fight by then, because you will be fighting real monsters out there."

[Wait... Seriously? That soon?] Rin asked herself.

"With that being said, this little session is done."

Maria stepped out of the classroom before anyone else. The students slowly got up and followed, but Carliah D'Ana stopped one of them.

"Elisa, come here."

"Ugh." Rin heard Elisa say under her breath. She turned around and said, "what do you want, auntie?"

[So that's their connection.] Rin nodded to herself as she exited the room. The group walked up the stairs once again, and it was at this point that Rin nearly had a heart attack. [Wait.] She remembered. [I'm about to fight!]

Out of everyone around her, the only ones who didn't seem nervous at all were Sara, Dylan, Elisa, and Seth. The others were all clearly concerned.

[So... It looks like I'm not the only one with literally no experience. What are we supposed to do?] As the group went through the only open door. This room was as strange as the garden but in a different way. There were no seats and the floor was covered in a strange carpet. It was a large open space with just a piece of elevated ground that Rin interpreted as the place where Maria was going to sit.

"Now, here are the rules," Maria said. "You will take a wooden weapon from over there, whichever one you like, and I will pair you up with someone. You two will fight, first to land a hit wins, and I will tailor my tutoring of you based on what I see."

"Um, excuse me," Lisa raised her hand. "What if we are not fighters? I am here to be a healer and take care of others," she said, sounding like a genuine angel to Rin's ears.

[Thank you! You brave soul! I mean, we should at least start training before we fight, right?]

"Good question. And, well, I need to measure your combative abilities. As for spellweavers specifically, though, you still need to know the basics of combat," Maria replied. "Because, while monsters are not intelligent, they can be clever. If you're ever in a team, and they see you alone, they will target you." Maria said and Lisa nodded.

"I see, that... does make sense," she admitted.

[Crap...] Rin nearly teared up. [At least you tried though.]

Everyone picked up a weapon. Rin had no idea what to choose. Some of these, even though they were made of wood, worried Rin. The spear in particular looked like it could actually stab someone.

In the end, she went with a simple wooden sword.

With everyone ready, Maria called out the first two.

"Hm… You and you."

She put Lisa up against the nearly-grey-skinned boy, Dylan. Lisa picked something that looked like a club. Dylan picked a spear. Judging by his stance, the boy with the ashen hair and crimson eyes seemed to know what he was doing. Lisa nodded and got into a stance that even Rin could tell was amateurish.

"And… Go."

Dylan ran up. Lisa tried to defend herself by raising her club-like weapon, but Dylan must have predicted that because he smacked the shaft of his weapon against Lisa's left ankle and with the other end of the spear pushed her back, tripping her.

Strangely, to Rin's eyes, it looked like he purposely took it easy on her.

"Hm… Alright." Maria nodded. Is that really enough to see where they both are? Rin wondered. Dylan extended a hand and helped Lisa up with a kind smile.

"T-Thanks," Lisa said with a nervous laugh as she took his hand. "You're pretty good at this."

"Thank you for the kind words, but I'm only a beginner," Dylan replied in a quiet voice, with a smile, and the two went back to their spots earlier.

"Next up… You and you." Maria pointed at Alea and John.

When they both stood in front of each other, a few people in the group laughed.

"Well, this is a little intense," John said.

They had both, like Lisa, chosen clubs as their weapons.

"And… Go." Maria said. Unlike before with Dylan, neither of them rushed. They stood in front of each other for a few seconds, and then when it was clear that neither of them would attack, Maria called it off then and there.

"What?" John said.

"That was enough," Maria stated.

"But, we didn't do anything." Lia pointed out.

"Yes, exactly," Maria replied and both John and Lia visibly cringed.

"S-Sorry," John said as he walked back to the group.

"Alright… You and you."

It took a while for Rin to register that she had been called. [Oh. Oh shit.] She stepped forward with her wooden sword. [No problem, I'll just take a swing and… It'll be fine.] Then, she looked across from herself.

She was fighting Seth.

[Am I like, going to die here?]

"And, go."

Seth walked forwards, raised the wooden sword, and slammed it against Rin's head.

The world went black.

When Rin's eyes reopened, the room was empty with just Maria next to her.

"Oh, you're awake."

"What happened?"

"That one buff boy knocked you out," Maria informed her, looking just a little bit amused.

"Oh."

"Go to the cafeteria, the chef is serving up breakfast."

"Uh, alright, ow!" She felt a pang at her head.

"Ask the chef for some ice and put it on your head."

"Okay."

Rin walked out of that room feeling about as confident as a candle in a river. [What the fuck did I sign up for?]