Silver Class

While the black and silver class had a joint lesson, the lesson for the red class was about to start.

Judi, a B-rank and a member of Gerard's team was talking with a friend until someone interrupted her.

"Hey, Judi."

After getting called out, she turned around only to see Cail Maystra's, the class' unofficial leader, smug expression.

"What do you want?" she asked disturbed by his presence.

"It hurts me when you speak in such a rough tone with me, you know?" he said acting all sad.

In return, her glare intensified.

"Fine, fine. I'll come to the point."

He placed one hand on her table and leaned closer.

"Why the hell are you hanging out with students from lower classes? Do you not have any pride?" he asked in a slightly threatening tone.

"Pride? Cut the crap. It's because you're so stuck up that nobody likes you."

"What did you-"

"What's wrong about eating together with fellow team members?" Judi cut Cail off as he raised his voice.

"Hm? Team? Did you just say that they're your team members?"

"Yeah... They're my team members..." she replied haltingly wondering why Cail calmed down all of the sudden.

"Haha... I see..." he chuckled lightly before he left her table.

With a confused frown, she looked at his back as he returned to his seat.

"Weird guy, right Lily?" Judi turned back to the friend she was talking to previously.

"..."

Said friend was Lily Hayth, who had an even more intense frown after overhearing their interaction.

"Lily?"

"Ah, sorry Judi! I was just thinking..." she said apologetically.

She did not know why but she had a weird feeling about this.

Back to the arena.

"..."

"..."

In the midst of the field, Gerard and Mika were standing and watching their surroundings calmly.

Around those two, multiple matches broke out.

Some were only physical, some involved only magic and some combined both.

"So why exactly do you want to wait?" Gerard asked with a bored expression.

"Sorry, but I just wanted to check out some fights before we start." Mika replied with an apologetic smile.

"Alright, fine~" Gerard let out a yawn.

Mika still smiled, but that smile vanished quickly when he watched further matches.

"You put up a good fight!"

"Thanks, you, too!"

Among those matches, a few were close matches with both opponents respecting each other.

However...

"Tch! Are you really telling me that you have the same rank as us? Don't be ridiculous, you trash!"

"..."

Lykria was sitting on the ground defeated while her opponent berated her.

"I must admit. For a student from that class full of imbeciles, you have a good physique. But in the end, that's all what you have."

"Shut up!!!"

Unlike Lykria, Adrian fell for the provocation.

"No, you should shut up."

His opponent, a guy with an also well-trained body, dodged Adrian's punch and counterattacked.

"Ugh!"

"It's really astonishing how a muscle brain like you could get enrolled here."

Mika looked at other matches.

But just like the previous matches, most of the sparring sessions turned into humiliation for the black-class students.

Silver-class students lashed out their feelings of superiority toward them, while the black-class students could do nothing to defend themselves due to the skill gap between the two classes.

"Sadly, many people in my class are like this and I know this won't do much, but I still want to apologize for my class, Mika..." Gerard said dejected as he faced the ground.

"You don't have to apologize."

Mika clenched his fists.

"It's me, who should say sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"You can call it an apology in advance."

He took a deep breath.

"I, Mika Elbar, challenge you, Gerard Armwright, to a fight with no-holds-barred!"

Mika raised his voice as he pointed at Gerard.

"I see, that's what you meant..." he muttered to himself with a smirk.

From afar, Ralph and Ophelia were watching those two, after Mika's loud voice attracted their attention.

"I accept your challenge! Now show me how wide the gap between your and my class is!" Gerard agreed to Mika's challenge.

The two grinned at each other in acknowledgment.

Everyone's eyes were now focused on them.

They even started to make some space for them.

"Beat him up, Gerard!"

"Make him taste the power of the silver class!"

Gerard's classmates cheered for him.

He liked having people cheer for him, but knowing that those cheers came from people, whose values he did not support, left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Prove them all wrong, Mika!"

"You can do it!"

On the other side, the black class encouraged Mika wholeheartedly.

"I'm feeling envious." Gerard stated jokingly.

Shortly after he said that the two rushed at each other.

Both of them went for a punch.

The punches clashed against each other, but only for a short time as the two decided to back down immediately.

[His physiques may be on par with yours.]

"..."

Mika tensed up his legs as he was about to leap at Gerard again.

"?"

But it was in that moment when he sensed something tangled around his right leg.

"A root...?"

A root emerging from the ground was wrapping up his calf.

"No-holds-barred, right?"

"!"

He let down his guard for a moment, leaving him wide open for Gerard.

Causing a deafening sound, when Gerard's punch connected to Mika's face, Mika was sent flying almost reaching the crowd.

"Not bad..." Mika remarked while wiping off the blood coming from his mouth.

Then, he pointed to the ceiling, where grey clouds were appearing despite being in an isolated space.

"?"

And as he moved his finger down, lightning struck down.

Gerard barely avoided the multiple lightning strikes.

"Huh?"

However, while he was busy dodging, he lost sight of Mika.

"Got you."

Spawning from behind, Mika launched a kick at him infused with lightning.

Gerard was slammed to the ground so hard that sandy dust covered the area around him.

"..."

When Mika landed on the ground, he tried to identify where Gerard was.

"!"

But as soon as he saw a silhouette, a thick and long green vine slapped him away.

He managed to put up his guard in time, but he still felt the pain stinging in his forearms.

As the dust was clearing, Gerard became more visible.

"That was a nice attack." Gerard complimented him.

"I could say the same to you."

Around his feet, multiple vines sprouted from the ground acting as whips.

When Gerard stretched his hand, the vines started to move toward Mika at high velocity.

"Tch."

Mika powered himself up with lightning again and faced them head-on.

He evaded the vines and cut the distance between him and Gerard.

It was easier than he thought.

"Clench your teeth."

But before he could launch an attack, Mika felt something strange.

"?"

From underneath, another vine appeared and wrapped itself around Mika's waist.

"As if I would lose that easily, Mika."

The vine shot itself further up and threw Mika from far above into the ground.

"Haha..." Mika started to laugh with a weak voice as he slowly got up.

He pointed his index and middle finger towards Gerard.

"Let's end this now." Mika declared with a smirk.

"That's what I'm trying to say." Gerard replied with a grin as well.

Whereas Mika compressed lightning into a small ball, Gerard's vines disappeared into the ground.

Instead, behind Gerard a huge flower emerged.

The flower seemed like a sunflower, however, its leaves were very short compared to its big brown floret. And from that floret, something shining was gathered there.

The two boys were concentrated, while the bystanders were stunned.

"What rank was Gerard again...?"

"I-I think he said that he was a C-rank..."

"To think that Mika could really stand toe-to-toe with a silver student..."

"Amazing..."

Be it from the black or the silver class, everyone's jaw dropped.

"..."

"..."

Their grin widened as they were about to launch their attacks until...

"That's enough, you two!"

"?"

"!"

Ophelia suddenly appeared between them and stopped the match.

"Continue and it will end badly for both of you." she elaborated.

The two ceased their attacks.

"Sorry, the heat of the moment got me." Gerard stated free-spirited.

"Yeah, same..." Mika agreed while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

They walked up to each other and shook hands.

"Thank you for the match."

"I thank you, too. It seems like the black class shouldn't be underestimated."

[Quest failed.]

One student from the audience started to clap. Then, another one until it was a few.

And after a short while, most of the students clapped their hands.

"H-hey, can't you make an exemption this time...? I mean, the match got interrupted and..." Mika begged the system quietly.

[I will think about it.]

"What an amusing boy..." Ralph murmured with a gentle smile on his face.

In the meantime, with the joint lesson nearing its end, another conflict was about to start.

"Hey, Judi..." Lily whispered trying not to get caught by their teacher.

"What is it?" she replied while taking notes.

"I was told to pass this to you."

"?"

Judi looked at Lily and saw a small folded paper sheet.

"..."

Naturally, she took it and opened it.

"And? What does it say? Is it a love letter perhaps?" Lily asked with the curiosity of a child.

"Lily, could answer this question please?" Cindy, the red class' teacher, asked knowing that she did not pay attention to the lesson.

However, while her friend desperately tried to answer, Judi had a stern look on her face as she went through the paper's contents.

'Meet me after class' - Cail