"With everything said and done, class is now dismissed."

After multiple trials and failures by many students over nearly an hour, Grim—believing they needed more time to master the technique—officially ended the class.

"Before you all leave, I want you to know beforehand that there will be a practical test tomorrow."

Her announcement left the class in a sour mood, a few complaints echoing from the back.

"Come on, Professor, it's just the first day."

"Yeah."

Ignoring them, she shook her head and continued.

"For the test, you'll be divided into two categories. Those who were able to master Coating today will spar among themselves, and those who couldn't will be given a chance tomorrow to show me their improvements. Of course, attendance will be taken, and I'll have you know—excusing yourself from my class will mean a failure in my course."

Seeing the horrified expressions on their faces after Grim's words, Art couldn't help but reminisce about his early college days.

"You'll get used to it," he mused, circling his fingers before flicking the sleeping pink-haired elf on the head.

"Ouch!"

She groaned, shifting her head on the table to face him as she opened her eyes, locking gazes with him—only to close them shortly after.

"Tsk."

Annoyed but keeping his composure, he suppressed his irritation, waiting a few minutes before repeating the flick.

"My final announcement goes to these three students: Valarie Lost, Cheshire, and Ellie. You three are to remain in class."

Valarie, who had been about to exit alongside Trish, came to a halt and turned back.

Trish, believing this was unfavorable, also turned to follow, but a sharp glare from Professor Grim stopped her in her tracks.

Art, watching her miserable state of confusion, burst into laughter, letting her know her attempts to keep Valarie away from him had failed. But his teasing backfired as a prompt filled his sight:

[Trish Emotional Meter: Like (1)]

[Hint: Her first, even in humiliation.]

[Sword and Aura Mastery Increased]

Having long lost faith in Trish's sanity, he wasn't much surprised by the hint.

"What have I brought upon myself?"

Cursing his past self for interacting with Trish first, he facepalmed.

---

"We'll start with you, Miss Valarie. Might I ask why you didn't participate during class activities?"

Placing the dagger on the podium, Grim approached Valarie, whose back stiffened in anxiety.

How could she tell her professor that closing her eyes brought traumas she disliked without sounding like she was making excuses?

"I wasn't feeling well," she lowered her gaze.

"I'm afraid that is a lie."

Grim's sharp response left Valarie tense, her breath catching in her throat, rendering her unable to deny the statement.

"Miss Valarie."

Patting her shoulder with a soft expression, Grim crouched to meet the girl's eye level.

As a teacher—and first and foremost, an adult—it was her duty to comfort a child. But before all that...

"Art, can you handle the other two for me?"

She turned to her reliable colleague, seeking a favor.

"Of course, but you owe me one!"

With a wink, he grabbed the sleeping beauty by the hood, then gestured for Cheshire—the only other remaining student—to follow him as they left the classroom.

---

"Trauma, huh?"

Since today was the first day since lectures officially commenced, classes was cut by half leaving the hallway mostly empty as Art dragged the two troublesome students outside.

As he did, his mind wandered, recalling fragments of Valarie's childhood. That girl—rough as she appeared now—was as strong as Trish and held a title as one of the "Seven."

The deaths of her parents had left scars on her mind, diminishing her strength, but without them, she shone brilliantly—like the stars—in contrast to the two slackers behind him.

One was Ellie, a pink-haired, beautiful elf with eyes the same color as her hair. She wore a light blue hoodie over her top and skirt, and the ends of her loose hair cascaded down to her waist, swaying with every movement. She was a prodigy archer who had started school early but, due to some issues, had to repeat the year once again.

Currently, she was yawning with half-closed eyes, barely standing with the aid of Cheshire—a half-tanned, black-haired beauty with eerie dark pupils.

"Oh my, a handsome teacher dragging along two freshly ripped beauties—what a greedy man."

In a teasing voice, Cheshire held Ellie's hand and smirked at Art, who didn't react to her words.

Sure, the way she phrased it sounded wrong—especially considering he was a teacher—but perhaps because his intentions were clear, he didn't entertain such a scandalous scenario.

"So boring..."

Seeing how unfazed Art was, Cheshire winced in boredom, dragging the half-asleep Ellie behind her and stepping to Art's side.

"So, what naughty stuff are we going to do, Professor?"

"..."

"Will it be something vanilla since we're so fresh, or something hardcore to spice up our enjoyment?"

"Probably hardcore," Art shrugged.

"Really?!"

Unconsciously leaping back in fright, her smile was replaced with uncertainty.

"Calm down. I meant a fight."

Art cleared the misunderstanding before it got him into trouble.

"Woah!"

Slightly caught off guard, Cheshire—whose heart had nearly jumped out of her chest—sighed in relief, now maintaining an appropriate distance from Art, just in case.

Art, observing her antics from the corner of his eye, smiled. It was amusing how such an innocent brat tried to act cocky.

After the mess Trish had nearly caused him, he had reviewed all the main characters' traits and devised countermeasures for them.

For example, Cheshire was the teasing type—a trait that grew stronger the closer she got to someone. By making her jokes feel inappropriate just before she got too comfortable, he could cut off future teasing at the root.

"Heh... I may be clueless about what to do, but for now, I've got them figured out."

For now, he was going with the flow—since the early days wouldn't present anything dangerous to deal with.

He just had to look out for the ranking games coming up in two weeks.

A/N: I have finally reached half of the chapters I have to correct. If you're a new reader I will advice you to wait a bit since anything below 40 and above 20 will have a lot of errors.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.