"A griffin has many nerves near its wings, so that's always a good spot. You can cut through the scales through either outputting a force of roughly 40,000 Newton—"

"Wait, wait, what exactly is this newton thing?"

"Really now, Cauldron? Really?"

I patted my lizardkin friend's back. "It's a unit of measurement. Just cram it in."

"Yes!" Cauldron adjusted his cauldron and turned back to the books. I looked at Florris who was sitting across us with her legs crossed and her ringlet curls elegantly falling down the sides of her head and asked her to continue. Thankfully, Cauldron and Florris had noticed how lost I was with the classes and offered to help me study, and we came to the 17th floor of the common library in the central campus where they taught me things I had missed. Well, Florris did. Cauldron was fine with his studies, but he got overwhelmed too easily, so he was not of much help.

I could easily manage things that required understanding and memorization, it was not difficult. I took Florris' help only at places I got stuck at. This was also a good chance to get out some more technical books and prepare for the electives. If only there was some way to know what had been covered, this was one time I felt the bad reputation's side effect.

We continued to study for a while like that after the day's class had ended. As thanks, I also ran down and got the two of them some snacks and drinks which they happily indulged. Cauldron greedily bit into his pizza while Florris acted unaffected, but gulped down her pastry like water.

Soon, the crowd on the spacious 17th floor started increasing as some familiar faces popped up. Anna, Reina, and Odis along with a three-meter tall giant and a very tiny girl with wings like those of a butterfly came inside. If I remembered well, the Giant and the girl were both students who had helped us fight the Ender Ent in the Entrance Exams.

"Hey! Ralph!" Anna and Reina waved at me as they approached our desk. They also gave Florris a smile and a high-five since the three of them had become fairly good friends in class.

"If it isn't!" Odis adjusted his glasses and looked at me with a smirk. "Playing truant with one of the top rankers? When did you become that naughty, Ralph?"

{Disgusting}

It seemed one of them agreed with the system's words as the tiny winged faerie girl reached up and pulled Odis' hair back. "Hey! Let go!"

I ignored my clown of a roommate and turned to Anna. "So, what's up?" I asked.

Anna awkwardly scratched her cheek and answered, "We came here to study too. The classes have picked up a crazy pace these days."

I sighed and nodded while Cauldron said a few words of agreement from beside me. I then turned to the giant student. "Is it the same case with 1-B?"

The giant nodded in agreement. "It is, they are not going easy on us at all. We're getting by thanks to Indi helping us out."

The tiny girl waved her hand from side to side at his words. "Not at all, I didn't do much."

So she was Indi Silkmeadow from Class B. Her Rank was right below Jin's, which means she must have been in the Green Wolves Dormitory as well.

"Ah, I know," Florris said. "Why don't you all join us? We can study together!"

"Right! More eyes will be helpful with these things," Cauldron added. This guy went along with everything.

"Can we? That's awesome!"

The decision had already been made. As their group started taking a seat at our table, I sneakily grabbed the tray with empty dishes I had brought for Florris and Cauldron and hid it behind my back. Before Odis could see it and beg for a treat.

***

The next day, our very first class was a class on Expeditions in our normal classroom. Thanks to the hours of studying the day before, I managed to keep up with the class with little effort.

"Alright, that's it for today."

The old teacher wrapped the class and walked out first. Sighs and laughs broke out as the teacher exited the classroom and the students relaxed. Before we could all get up and leave, though, Luke Reese stood up.

"Everyone, can you all listen for a bit?" Luke's voice pulled everyone's attention toward him. The class quietened down for Luke and waited.

"What?!" A loud sound came from the side. "Are you ordering us to sit and listen to your babbling? I have better things to do, asshole."

Ardreth Vallen slammed his hand on the desk and stood up. He clicked his tongue and walked out of the classroom while cussing Luke out. Luke Reese could only watch him with a slightly pitiful gaze as two more students slightly lower in Rank looked around the class and ran behind Ardreth.

"Well, this is better," Luke remarked and some of the others in the class giggled. "So, I, Leone, and Zachary had the opportunity to talk to some seniors over the last few days and have learned something that we believe might be worth knowing for everyone."

The mood in the classroom changed into a serious one at Luke's words. Information directly from the course seniors, everyone realized what a fool Ardreth Vallen and his cronies had made of themselves in a single moment.

"The teachers have kicked up pace in a single week to the point many of us are lagging. At first, we thought it was just how an elite school does things, but the seniors had a different opinion."

Luke paused for a second and let the others gather their thoughts, myself included. The pace they were taking things at was truly fast, but I could catch up after just a day of studying. Was it really as bad as he said? Thinking about it, even Florris was studying between teaching us despite being one of the smarter ones. It was easy for me, but the others were having a tough time even though they hadn't missed a day.

"Last year, the time when the school picked up pace like this. It was in preparations for the special exams."

Many gasps rang out in the room at the mention of the special exam.

"It seems to have been moved up by a lot. Take it with a grain of salt, but it seems right around the corner, is our first chance to change our ranks."