Raviel stayed in his seat while the rest of the classroom slowly broke the tense atmosphere.

Whispers and laughter echoed in the classroom walls.

A slightly louder voice made it's way into Raviel's ear.

"Man, she is going to murder my five day streak tonight. My enlightenment is just thirteen hours away".

Another voice followed, wheezing. "Bruh, those thighs? Those thighs are designed to take lives. I guess hard work really pays off, my eyes are blessed".

A few more dumb chuckles spread, even Raviel couldn't hold his laughter back, as he listened to few more of their interesting information.

Listening to his surroundings, Raviel quietly took out his chocolate from his pocket, and started unwrapping it.

As he took the first bite of the dark chocolate, his eyes widened. The sudden burst of flavours flooded in his mouth.

"Mhhm...delicious. Bit sweet too".

Near the front, a small group of girls drifted towards Kai, who was sitting lazily on his seat.

One of the girls, wearing a bright yellow coloured ribbon on her ginger coloured hair, walked towards Kai with a trembling body but unwavering expression.

He handled it easily — polite smiles and short replies, nothing extra. One of the girls clearly meant to say something bold, froze halfway, turned red, and quickly walked away with her friends smiling at her back.

Some guys nearby clicked their tongues and glared at Kai, while few others just went up to him, casually starting conversation.

Raviel noticed a boy, a few seats away glance at him and lift a hand in a greeting gesture.

He waved back without thinking.

The boy walked over and stopped besides his desk.

"Sup", he said.

Raviel nodded.

Ethan glanced toward Kai, then back at Raviel and smirked.

"Looks like his problems are… little different. Can't say I relate."

Ethan kept on rambling about his past, present and future all at once, jumping from one thing to another like he'd known Raviel for years.

He paused mid sentence and noticed that Raviel's attention was fully on the chocolate, then glanced at his hand and raised an eyebrow.

Raviel noticed and said flatly, "You see this? It's kind of expensive. Can't afford to let it melt."

Ethan blinked once, then burst out laughing.

"Fair. Respectable priorities."

Just then, the door opened.

A man stepped in— tall, handsome, black hair tied loosely behind his back, wearing a long dark overcoat that didn't look like standard academy wear at all.

Almost instantly, groans spread through the male students.

"For fuck's sake," someone whispered.

"Can't we get one normal-looking guy just once?"

Raviel didn't react like the others. He stared at the man, eyes narrowing slightly as he watched his face and recalled some deatails.

He recognized him.

Ghost.

Stated in the novel's pages. ' Ghost' was a master in all sorts of weapon's and techniques, just like Chico, ghost was infamous for contracted bounty hunting in the black market. Though he belonged to the black market, he was at equilibrium with N.U.A as well, in other words, he was sort of a double agent.

Still, Raviel felt a flicker of curiosity.

What's your objective here....?

He finished the chocolate, and wiped the smudge off, on his lips.

....

The wide training ground buzzed with quiet excitement as all the twenty nine students stood there, the air smelling faintly fresh.

The man from earlier stepped forward and spoke.

"I hope you have a rough idea, for why I am here", he said calmly. "Just like Evelyn, I'll be your battle instructor for the rest of the semester."

"I'm Leonard, or leo for short". He spoke, loudly for us to hear.

No big speech. No dramatics.

He walked to a tablet mounted on the wall, tapped a few things, then entered a long password. A low thrum echoed through the ground. The wall beside him split open slowly, and thick steam rolled out like a liquid.

Lights flickered on inside.

The room beyond was massive.

Racks upon racks of cold weapons lined the walls — swords, spears, axes, bows, firearms, staffs, strange hybrid tools Raviel didn't even have names for. Some looked ancient, others brutally modern. The metal shimmered under the white light, polished and deadly.

Leo spoke again, voice even.

"Consider yourselves lucky. Since you're in S-class, you get to pick first."

A few students swallowed hard.

"Those of you with soul weapons," Leo continued, glancing briefly at the group, "you're free to start your own practice. Today isn't about training. It's about getting comfortable. Learn the academy. Learn yourselves. Adjust with the pace."

He paused, then added, more seriously,

"Once you choose a weapon, it gets registered in the Novexus database. Switching later won't be easy. So choose wisely."

That did it.

Few individuals already started moving towards the enclosure, hands twitching with excitement. Some debated quietly, while few asked suggestions from Leo.

Raviel noticed that four students stayed back, calm and unmoving.

Soul-weapons.

He thought.

His hand brushed against his own storage ring.

Following other, Raviel too, started moving towards the weapon sections.

Raviel finally started walking toward the weapon section, and the closer he got, the more overwhelming it felt.

There were just too many choices.

Heavy blades, light blades, weapons meant for reach, weapons meant for speed. Some felt like they belonged on a battlefield, others like they were made for assassins. The faint hum of mana around them made his skin tingle.

Nearby, Kai was already testing things out.

He picked up a glaive first, gave it a solid downward swing, then frowned slightly. After a moment, he set it back on the row and reached for a naginata. He didn't even swing this one. He just held it, adjusted his grip once, then nodded to himself.

"This one," Kai said calmly, reporting his choice to Leo.

Leo tapped his tablet without comment.

Around them, other students were choosing too — some were little too excited, some nervous, some clearly pretending they knew what they were doing.

Raviel hesitated, then walked over to Leo.

"Instructor Leo" he asked casually, "can I also choose a weapon even if I already have a soul weapon?"

Leo glanced at him once. "No", the answer came plain and simple.

Raviel nodded and stepped back, rubbing his temple.

Great, he thought dryly. Can't swing a damn katana properly, but still want to be a 'jack of all trades'.

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