When Devon said that Cass was allergic to alarms, he wasn't kidding.

Nox stood by the bedside in a black uniform jacket and pants with golden lines around the neck and cuffs, with the Academy's logo on the left chest area.

On his left wrist was a more permanent version of the previous watch he wore during the test.

It had been a week since the results were announced and not much had happened… well, except for the fact that the other students had started growing unwanted interest in him.

Most were curious about what his scores in the combat tests were, had he failed so bad that the system just decided to give him question marks?

Or had he gotten a never before seen grade that even the system couldn't process?

That was the question on all their minds, and even if Nox wanted to tell them his combat test grades, he couldn't.

After all, the headmistress had refused to reveal what it was, only telling him that he passed and he NEEDED to attend both combat and Engineering classes.

Nox had tried checking his previous watch for a history on the amount of Eclipsed he took down, but there was nothing there.

So he just gave up, it's not like he had the skills to hack into the academy's database for just his combat test grades.

So now, normal academy classes had started and they were on the verge of being late because a certain someone refused to wake up.

"CASS!" Devon yelled, " if you don't wake yo' fragile genius ass up, we gon' be late!"

"Five more minutes," Cassian responded before turning over and wrapping the covers around himself.

"Whatchu mean five more minutes?" Devon said, "your ass is going to be late in two."

No answer, Cass was already deep in sleep and there was no waking him up now, except..

"Let me try," Nox said as he approached Cass's bed and crouched down before whispering, "all the important books in the library had just mysteriously gone up in flames, they're no more."

Cass's eyes snapped open so fast it was almost frightening.

"WHAT?!" he jolted upright and then froze, blinking in confusion as his brain rebooted.

He looked around, saw Nox and Devon staring at him, then slowly realized what just happened.

Devon burst out laughing.

"Ain't no way that worked," he wheezed, bending over, hands on his knees. "Man's immune to alarms but the moment you say books—"

"…Why would you say something so cruel?" Cass asked, feeling betrayed.

Nox stood up straight and shrugged, "You wouldn't wake up."

"But still—" he started again but was cutoff by Devon.

"You awake now, ain't you?" He said, tossing Cass's uniform jacket, which was of a different color, at him before walking towards the door, "now hurry up, If we're late on the first day of class, I'm not takin' the blame for you."

Nox followed soon after, leaving Cass alone in the room, who just sighed and hopped off the bed before walking to the bathroom.

***

A few minutes later, the trio were running through the Academy's corridor, despite the sign that warned them otherwise.

Cass was a genius… when it came to anything except physical activities.

Which was why he was currently trailing behind like some kind of asthmatic grandma.

"H–Hold on," Cass wheezed, clutching his chest with one hand while the other swung awkwardly, trying to catch up to the two.

"Hurry yo' noodle legs up!" Devon shot back without looking back.

Nox was slightly ahead, since he was used to running, especially from his landlord.

Compared to hopping off rooftops back in the slums, this was light exercise, hence the reason he wasn't even breaking a sweat.

The trio soon rounded a corner, almost slamming into a group of first-years, before skidding to a stop in front of the tall doors of Lecture Hall C.

A glowing holo-clock nearby read: 7:59 AM.

"See? Perfect timing," Devon said, pumping his fist.

The students looked at the three who had just arrived with a small frown on their faces, well, that is until they spotted Cass and their expressions immediately changed.

Half or pretty much the entire school knew he was from the Burns family, the owners of Helion Industries, especially after his results were revealed.

Well, it was more accurate to say that they knew after Cass's brother decided to reveal it during the result announcement.

Devon leaned toward Nox and muttered, "Man… look at all these folks suddenly actin' like they ain't roast his combat score a week ago."

Nox nodded slightly.

It was true, the moment Cass's results came out, half the students that had made it into the Combat division suddenly treated him like a walking glass ornament.

But to those in the Engineering and Scholar divisions? To them he was a shining beacon of connections and genius.

And fake admiration was still admiration… for most people.

Cass sighed, he was sure they'd immediately change their thoughts the moment they learnt he was basically a disappointment to the family.

He turned to the two beside him, thinking, maybe he was lucky to be in the same room as these two.

After all, they didn't seem to care if he was in the Burns family or not.

"C'mon," Nox said as the doors of the lecture hall slid open, "let's just find seats before we're actually late."

The hall was massive with tiered rows and holographic projectors floating above the lecturer's podium.

Nox could feel the SE powering every single thing within the room right now, but he just ignored it.

Most rows had already been filled and more were walking in. The moment they spotted Nox, a fresh wave of whispers rose again.

"That the question-mark guy?"

"He doesn't look special."

"What division do you think he'll join?"

"Undecided means he's strong, right?"

His eyes twitched as they continued talking about him.

Devon heard them too and leaned closer, whispering loudly enough on purpose, "Loud-ass gossipin' gremlins…"

Well that successfully got them to shut up and the trio continued to search for empty seats which they found by a familiar girl.

"Hello Linda," Cass greeted as they took a seat in her row.

She looked away from her tablet, before adjusting her glasses and looking at the three, "you guys are late."

"We weren't," Devon said, pointing a thumb at Cass, "and if we are, all blame rests on Mr. Five-more-minutes here."

Cass didn't even hear Devon's words as he focused on catching his breath.

"Water?" Linda tapped her watch, taking out a cold bottle of water from her inventory and handing it to Cass.

"Thanks," he muttered before taking it.

A few minutes after, the lecturer stepped in. He was a tall man with strange eyes behind round glasses and scales on his cheeks?

He stood on the podium, took a quick glance at the students in the room before saying, "alright then, let's begin."

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