“So? What's the big idea?“

Isabella's shocked gaze transformed once again.

Impressive.

Her talent was unbridled.

Kristina prepared to brawl again as she waited for the witch's next movements.

Isabella smiled with wide eyes and slowly walked toward the girl. Her slender legs skipped on the ground, leaving the ground below crave her touch as she approached the girl.

Kristina raised her fists and pumped her mana again. She was ready to go again when her body slumped down and all the mana left her body at once.

“W-what?!“

She meekly exclaimed and was about to fall to the ground when she was grabbed by her shoulders and supported up.

Isabella held Kristina in her arms and shouted.

“You, be my pupil!“

A loud thud spread in the air. Isabella's head snapped toward the entrance of the place.

Standing there was a golden-eyed kid with long black hair reaching his shoulders.

The child's pretty face was contorted into a look of shock that disappeared quickly.

'What in god's name? How did he get in here!?'

“Who are you?“ Isabella snapped, letting go of Kristina who stumbled to her feet. “Name yourself!“

“Umm… It's 3 PM, so…” he showed her the screen of his watch and pointed at the time.

Isabella thought for a few seconds and gasped. “You're the F-Ranked!“

'It's impossible,' she thought. 'How did he get in here, and without me figuring it out! Did he bypass my alarm sigils? How could he even know about them.'

Her suspicions grew as Ralph tilted his head to the side and asked if he could come in.

Isabella, though young, was a person more experienced than veterans of old. She couldn't help but feel this child was trying to act more innocent than he seemed. As if there was something hidden.

“Alright, come right in.“ Isabella said with a stone-cold face.

A wave of mana spread through her body and formed a magic circle in front of her eyes.

The world changed colors again as the movement of every single speck of mana revealed itself to her. A mess of waves and particles that only she could swerve through.

And at the end, in the heart of the child was an insurmountable wall that nothing could break through from within.

A limiter, sealing away an ocean of mana from the rest of the world.

Shock, surprise, and disbelief course through her veins as Ralph stepped closer and closer.

“F-Ranked, was it?“

***

{Huh!? Host!!! Look at that beauty! Goddamn!}

The system's stupidity was enough to make me lose all my sense of surprise as I hardened my face.

In front of me was a wobbling Kristina and the teacher of the Advanced Magic class, the 462nd ranked hunter in the entire world. The Red Witch, Isabella Ahlgrim.

Her eyes swerved all around the place as she asked me to name myself with a strict tone.

Did they fight? Did she already decide on making Kristina her pupil!? What the hell, why was she even here! And Isabella's eyes were filled with anger and confusion toward me.

This wasn't the time to be shocked at my ruined plans. I had to make the most of this situation. I had no clue why she was this pissed, but I could use it to my advantage.

My watch's holographic screen opened, and I turned it toward her with the clock open.

“Umm… it's 3 PM so…”

Her stony face broke for a second as her eyebrows twitched. Then, she gasped and said. “You're the F Ranked!“

There it was. The display of the main reason I didn't bother fixing my reputation so soon. I'd be in trouble if people think me uncooperative or evil, but strength was a different story. The weaker my image, the stronger the impact of my strength.

I held in my smirk and innocently tilted my head. “So, this is the right place, correct? Can I step in?“

“Alright, come right in.“ Isabella said with a stone-cold face. She was truly as cold as her name would suggest.

A wave of mana spread out and formed a magic circle in front of her eyes. What was it? What kind of spell had she used?

Such thoughts spread through my mind as I continued walking.

“F Ranked, was it?“ she said.

The air around me shifted. The mana in the entire room crackled.

A chill went down my spine as my hair stood on end.

From my left, the mana coalesced and a spear of steel filled to the brim with lightning materialized.

As if time had stopped. My mind raced to make sense of this.

I was, being attacked.

A fearsome blow from one of the world's strongest hunters and the greatest mage herself.

The spear rotated with a torque and inched closer.

Dodge?

I had to dodge.

Every cell in my body screamed with terror at the upcoming hit. My legs were about to move on their own, but I used all my strength to hold my ground.

I had to be someone she could trust to get her to teach me.

The spear's tip almost touched my head as it came closer. I could barely see Isabella's eyes widen.

Fuck, this was going to hurt.

That was the last thing I remember thinking.

***

Zachary Ainsworth sat at a wide table at one end of the cafeteria near the central parts of the campus. There was no one else next to him, and the other students avoided him as well. He rolled the spaghetti around his fork and slowly brought it to his mouth while lost in his thoughts.

Two days.

It had been two days since Ralph had, quite literally, disappeared.

In a sense, Ralph was one of the only people he could be friends with out here. Ever since he ranked first in the grade, people would avoid him out of respect and a sense of inferiority, and it was his duty to live up to the image of the first-ranked student not only to his noble family but to himself as well.

That was the biggest reason he tried to keep Ralph on the spot during the day of the introductions. He thought he'll approach the rest of the students through Ralph who would remove the boundary of 'Rank' for him, but before he knew it even Ralph was excluded from all social circles and labeled a leech.

And now, that one friend was gone. He couldn't reach him through messages or calls, he couldn't find him in class, and even Ralph's dormmates had no idea where he was. Every time he asked Claudio Alo, the only response he received was a simple 'he's fine.'

Zachary was slowly growing more and more worried about his friend.

Just then, the chair across him moved. Zachary raised his head and saw a tall and handsome man standing there with a plate in his hand.

"Hey, can we talk?"

Zachary thought for a few seconds before gesturing at him to sit with his chin. "What is it, Luke Reese?"