Top Duo

"I had no idea you attended this place, Noah," Arthur said as he looked at his old friend from middle school. He was coming to the academy when he saw someone shoving his hands into the pockets of another student and taking his wallet. 

Arthur was about to ignore it as that was common, and he wouldn't be the hero who stands up for everyone at his own expense. He then saw the student's face and realized he was his old friend from middle school.

"I… I never thought I'd see you today, and here on top of that. Your sash… You're A-Class? Did you awaken a powerful ability?" Noah was still stunned by the turn of events that took place just earlier. 

Isaac, the person who always took his money, clashed with his old best friend from middle school, who he hasn't seen for years. Everything was surreal, and even more, Arthur looked different.

Arthur laughed as he said he got here by connections. As he saw Noah staring at his eyes, he realized they were the most significant change that happened to him and proceeded to tell Noah that it resulted from his ability.

"Are you sure you don't need to go to the infirmary?" Arthur asked with worry as he saw Noah wipe the blood off his nose. It seems Isaac had hit him as he was trying to take his money. Noah shook his head and stood up.

"Let me show you around. It's the least I could do for not asking about you all these years." Noah extended his hand, and Arthur took it.

"Don't say that. We both had a lot on our plate." Arthur shook his head, and the two people headed toward the classrooms as they were chatting. After agreeing to meet at the arcade later, the two split up, and Arthur headed toward his class.

As he walked in, Arthur got the class's attention toward him as they began to scrutinize him. Arthur expected this with his unusual circumstances. He found an empty seat and headed there.

"Is this seat taken?" Arthur asked a red-headed guy sitting next to the empty seat.

"Oh, it is. You can sit here with no problem." The student glanced at the seat and replied. As the students didn't bring anything with them, as most classes were recorded online with notes, they didn't need to get anything such as books or notes. 

They can just go back home and find everything they need on the website. Furthermore, not many awakeners cared about studying as they did for power assessments.

"Thanks, I'm Arthur." Arthur sat down and kept chatting with him. He found this student to be easygoing and had a good personality.

"I'm Markus. Usually, people say my eyes' color is weird. Yours are on another level… Is that natural?" Markus seemed to be the straightforward blunt type as he asked Arthur a personal question from the start. However, Arthur gave the excuse he gave to others without being offended. The two kept chatting until Arthur felt a person stand beside him.

"That's my seat." It was a blonde female student with ponytail hair. She had black eyes and a cold expression that Arthur could swear that it made the room chillier.

"It is? I thought…" Arthur was confused and turned to Markus, who was trying to hold back his laughter. 

He didn't understand what was so funny, and he apologized before moving to another seat. It seemed this girl wasn't picking on him, but Markus playing a prank on the new transfer student.

"Why did you do that?" Amelia sat down with her new strawberry milk as she asked Markus.

"I just wanted to piss him off a bit, but it seems I failed. It seems he's a lot more mature than most students here." Markus shook his head as if he just analyzed Arthur's personality.

"…You're more childish than most students here." Amelia said after being speechless for a short moment. She then glanced at Arthur, who was now sitting in the seat behind her, looking through the window.

***

"Most of you here are aiming to get into Jerano College. Some might have other goals to achieve. Nonetheless, all of that would need your dedication and hard work. Every year, Jerano accepts only 200 students per batch. 

They want the elite of the elite. That's why even you, A-Class, are not enough in their eyes. Except, of course, to some of you." The female teacher who introduced herself as Miss Rachel explained as she surveyed the students. 

Her gaze lingered for a second on a student sitting at the back who got here by the recommendation of an influential figure, Master Ronin. She wouldn't have known this if not for her father being the principal of this academy.

"As I am your homeroom teacher, I'll be the one guiding you in your college admission process. For today, we'll be having a theory class followed by a training session, and ending with free time for the clubs."

After she explained the schedule for today, as well as introducing Arthur to the rest, Miss Rachel left the room, and some students came over to talk to Arthur, although most kept their distance.

"I'm sorry for earlier, brother. It was a harmless prank." Markus said as he turned to Arthur. The latter smiled and said it was fine. Markus pointed toward Amelia and continued. "This one here is Amelia, known as Ice Milk. You can probably see why she's always drinking milk and is cold all the time!"

Amelia shot him a glare before ignoring the two. Arthur kept chatting with Markus as the latter started introducing the rest of the class. To his surprise, Markus was the top student in the class in theory. The top student in power, however, was Amelia. These two were childhood friends, and Arthur found it amazing that they kept their friendliness even while ranking at the top of the school.

"So, brother, can you tell me why you transferred with only one semester left before the national exams?" Markus finally spilled the beans as he was dying of curiosity. If every person had a major flaw, then Markus's was that he was a curious person since he was little. This made him almost die several times, but Amelia was always there to save the day.

"Well, I'm planning to attend Jerano College, and I figured it would be a lot easier to apply as a graduate than applying directly to the college." Arthur had nothing to hide as he told the two of his plans. As he said that, the two's eyes flashed as even Amelia turned and looked at Arthur. Even though Jerano was everyone's goal, Arthur spoke like he was confident.

They were right. Arthur had confidence in his growth rate. He knew he could become a full-fledged neo-ranker before the start of their exams and might even be able to advance further than that. 

Right now, Arthur has awakened, but he was unranked in terms of strength. His body has just awakened, and even if he was able to grow through his legacy, others still had a head-start over him. He wasn't too worried, as he could use his ability to strengthen himself further.

As their theory class began, Arthur remembered why he hated school. No matter how much interest he had, the bombardment of information made him bored. However, he held until the end, and he learned a lot from just one day. 

Their class for today was history as they explained how the kingdoms of Yalen, Vernia, and Anerk made a union three hundred years ago, creating the Yalveran Federal Union. 

The three kingdoms each had equal governance over the people, and these people can choose the union's president through elections. They had banded together to fight against the appearance of monsters and dungeons.

There were also details about who was a popular figure in the past, the dates, conflicts, etc. As the class ended, Arthur couldn't wait for their training session as he wanted to grow stronger by the minutes. They headed toward the gym, where there were many machines they could train with or compete against each other. 

However, their training session was mostly about their fighting skills. There were many capsules where students would lie down to connect to the virtual reality to learn how to fight in different styles.

[Unable to learn the runes.]

Arthur got this message as he tried studying the runes in the capsule, but they were too complicated for the current him. With a sigh, he logged in and started his training for the day.

"Welcome." A virtual teacher stood in front of him. "What do you want to learn?" A list then appeared about all the combat styles he can learn. It ranged from swordsmanship to basic training. Arthur took his time thinking. His father once taught him basic swordsmanship. However, he felt that his ability didn't suit such a style.

Although the runes he could use right now were basic, only strengthening him at best, he knew he could learn more, and they would increase with time. He imagined himself casting multiple runes that charged at his opponent with deadly fire or freezing storm, maybe turn the whole sea upside down. 

However, now was not the time for that. His fighting style can change later, but he needs to become stronger now. Arthur chose swordsmanship, and the training began.