As Ms. Cai, our sleepy homeroom teacher, glanced around the classroom, she was met with twenty-five pairs of awkward gazes.

"Okay… I'll take that as a no… so I'll continue…"

"W-Wait," a guy sitting near the front couldn't hold it back anymore. "Er… Ms. Cai, are you… sleep-deprived, perhaps?"

Well, that was blunt. Though I don't see a better way of putting it, if I'm being honest.

"Huh…? No… it's this technique I cultivate… but you wouldn't get it…"

"A-Ah, I see," the student replied before instantly cowering away.

"Are there any more questions…?" She glanced around once more, as if exhausted and slightly annoyed, even.

No one spoke up this time, so Ms. Cai continued.

"Alright… so how this school is going to work… is a competition between classes. Each 'Series' has their own interclass contests, so you won't have to face against any class from any other Series… in fact, you won't even see their faces again until graduation. You also won't be competing against students from other school years, so essentially… the only ones you have as opponents are Class 1-C, 1-B, and 1-A…"

A boy at the very front, sitting right next to the guy who had asked the first question, raised his hand.

"Yes…?" Ms. Cai raised an eyebrow, eyes slim to the point it was like she was asleep.

"How will we 'compete' against them, exactly? And what rewards do we stand to gain from 'beating' them?"

"I will get to your first question in a second… but as for the rewards… every month, the four classes will be distributed money to spend on-campus… and the more CP we have, the more good stuff everyone in this class will receive every month… oh, also, at the end of every school year, the class with the highest spot will receive additional rewards… Upgrade Runes, Awakening Stones, even Soul Catalysts… stuff like that."

At this, everybody's eyes lit up.

"Soul Catalysts… those are the things that can help you awaken a Battle Soul, right?" Lan Xiao Su asked quietly.

"Yes," Lin Luo, who was sitting beside her, replied with her eyes closed and arms folded. "They are an extremely rare resource, and even the IMF doesn't have an abundance of them."

I chuckled softly. "Goes to show just how prestigious and powerful this school is."

"Okay… now, as for how exactly you'll be competing against the other classe-"

"Hold on, miss," the same boy raised his hands once more and interrupted. "You mentioned 'CP' just now… whwat is that?"

Ms. Cai sighed deeply. "CP stands for class points… they are what determines the class rankings… the more you have, the better."

"So how do you gain th-"

"I SAID I WOULD GET TO THAT IN A SECOND!" Ms. Cai suddenly yelled loudly, her voice reverberating through the entire classroom. Everyone, especially the boy, who was on the receiving end of this angry shout, fell dead silent. "God… kids these days… so impatient…"

"I-I'm sorry, Ms. Cai…" the boy murmured quietly. His friend shot him a pitiful gaze.

"Ugh… it's fine, it's fine… basically, I get pissed off quickly, so like… just behave," she rolled her eyes and said. "Anyways… as I was saying… you will be competing against the other classes in special, unique exams you've never seen at any other school before."

The poor boy looked like he wanted to ask yet another question, but remembered what happened just now and refrained from doing so.

"I'm not allowed to give you any details, but just keep in mind… these exams will not just be your average multiple-choice tests. Oh, also… there's one coming up next week, exactly seven days from now… better prepare."

"Wait, what?!" Yu An Yan blurted out, quickly covering her mouth as everyone turned their gazes to her. "A-Ah, sorry… I just didn't expect there to be one so soon, right after starting the school year…"

"No need to worry so much… this one is just a… little trial, if you will. There is still a risk of being expelled, but this exam won't have any 'guaranteed' spots for expulsion, unlike others…"

I narrowed my eyes. "Guaranteed spots for expulsion, huh…"

Raising my hand, I decided to ask a question.

"Yes…?" Ms. Cai looked over at me with a tired expression on her face.

"This may seem like a dumb question, but…" I stared straight into her eyes, searching for an answer. "What happens to expelled students?"

At this, Ms. Cai didn't respond instantly. That was the first time she hesitated before answering a question — and I knew I had hit the spot.

"… What makes you ask that question?"

For the first time, she didn't appear sleepy or tired when speaking.

"Oh, for no reason in particular… I was just curious, that's all," I replied, unable to think of a good excuse on the spot.

"I see… well. Expelled students… are expelled. There's nothing more to it."

Ah, but what is the definition of 'expelled' here at this school?

She purposely avoided saying that. Clearly, there was more to this university than the prestigious and prodigal front it has. However, I didn't see a point in saying anything further here, with other oblivious students here. If I continued prying, that could end up making me a target, which I didn't want. I mean, I already was one for Liu Jian… I didn't want to amplify it further.

"I see. Thank you," I said briskly, putting my hand back down.

"… Any more questions…?"

The boy who kept asking questions earlier raised his hand once more, after seeing me ask mine. "Ms. Cai, when can we get a tour of the school? I'm new here, and-"

"We're all new here, dumbass!" His friend whispered sharply from beside him.

"Ugh… I don't do tours…" our homeroom teacher rolled her eyes. "If you want one, you'll have to ask one of the older students on a weekend or something… though they probably won't help you, given it's their weekend, but… if you were here yesterday or something, the secretary could've given you a tour. Too bad."

"Ah, okay. That's no problem. I will ask a senior."

"… Just be careful not to make any enemies right after entering the academy," Ms. Cai chuckled softly, giving him this friendly reminder.

After that, class proceeded normally. The material wasn't all too hard, despite being a prestigious school. Even after being out of any type of educational facilities for so long, I was still able to understand everything Ms. Cai was talking about using the knowledge I had from previous years at Shenzhen Magic High. It was mainly textbook subjects like mathematics and science — magic classes would probably be later on in the day.

Lan Xiao Su in particular seemed to be quite the academic student, which didn't surprise me at all, to be honest. She quit school at a young age to work part-time jobs in an attempt to save enough money to cure her mother, but even amidst all the work, she was still studying whenever she could, reading books and doing research on the internet. I admired her for that.

A few hours later, it was lunchtime. The girls and I decided to head for the Recreation Campus rather than the cafeteria since the latter would definitely be stacked with people. Yu An Yan had way too much money on her hands, so we might as well spend it. While eating, we ended up running into Xiang Peng, but she quickly ran away upon seeing us. I didn't feel bad for turning her away last night, but it would be a lie if I said her current situation wasn't somewhat pitiful.

Still, given the attitude of the Xiang family Patriarch, it would hardly be a good idea to keep interacting with her. I had no doubt he had eyes inside of this school, being one of the major families of not just Fragment but of the whole arcane world. And as for the test he gave me…

… Hm, I should probably start working towards that. He didn't specify a time limit if I recall correctly, but the earlier I entered the Student Council, the better. If my guess wasn't wrong… the Council has some sort of influence over the school — to the point where it can even fight back against the teachers and principal, somewhat. That would provide me with a little protection from Liu Jian's moves.

Soon after, we finished eating and headed back to the Main Campus. Our lunch break started at 11:30 AM and ended at 1 PM, and we turned out to be 15 minutes early. Ms. Cai, unsurprisingly, was asleep at her desk, face planted on her table and snoring gently.

The girls and I tip-toed quietly across to avoid waking her up, but as soon as we opened the door, she woke up — even though we were careful not to make any noise.

"GAH! WHO DISTURBS MY SLEE- oh, it's you guys…"

I decided not to point out how quickly her attitude changed there and instead wave awkwardly.

"Er… good afternoon."

"Good after-"

But then, she glanced up at the clock, then back at us, then back at the clock again.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE ALREADY?! THERE'S STILL FIFTEEN MINUTES! FIFTEEN! SOLID! MINUTES! OF SLEEP! GET OUT, GET OUT!"

"U-Uh, okay, okay-"

As we were stormed out of the room by our monster of a teacher, the door was slammed shut tight in our faces and locked from the inside.

"Well then…" I murmured, unsure of what else to say.

Feng Mian sighed. "I can already tell… this is going to be quite the eventful year."