I have to study?

Half a week had gone by, now being Wednesday, since I had the weird dream. It was hard trying to listen to Ms. Johnson talk about the history of the world when the room was filled with classmates that I had seen get killed by me.

"... and that's all you need to know for the test. Because of the ranking battles next Friday, we won't be having more lessons until after. Instead, you will get the chance to study on your own, so you can choose to train if you already know the contents."

She closed her laptop and left the room.

'Wait... We are having a test?! When? About what?!'

Needless to say, I hadn't been paying attention to the general theory lessons. My mind had been occupied with other things. Math wasn't a problem for me, as I apparently knew enough from my previous world. The problem was history and social science.

I knew nothing about this world, and even during my 16 years here, I had been stuck in the orphanage. Coupled with the fact that I hadn't paid attention in class, I was in a pinch.

"Yo, Miren!"

The key to my success had arrived.

"James, I need your help!"

Completely taken off guard by my intense response, he blurted out, "Wait, what? What do you need?" Are you in danger?"

Hopping down from my chair, I looked up at him and spoke of my situation, "I need your notes from class, and if possible, one night where you can teach me."

His body deflated a bit, releasing its readiness for combat "Oh, so that's how it was. Sure, we can do it tonight if you want, my place or your place?"

Without skipping a beat I answered, "Your room."

****

Following James into his apartment building, I couldn't help but compare our living quarters.

I lived in a shabby, run-down little room, located in an equally run-down building. Having only rats and cockroaches as my neighbors, it wasn't the optimal place to relax.

In contrast, the building we were currently in was more like a five-star hotel. Marble floor, with complementing pillars, in the lounge. Filled with cozy sofas and tables to sit at, as well as an actual café that was supposedly always open.

It turned out that all three of my friends lived here, the reasons being a combination of talent and familial connections.

James's personal quarters were also on a different level. He even had several different rooms.

A huge living room, with a big couch, a table, and a gigantic TV on the wall. A separate bedroom, with a bed that was at least twice the size of mine.

The most prominent part, though, was the fact that it had a personal room for training, equipped with weights and a dummy.

'Someday, I will also get here!'

We sat down around his living room table, "The others will arrive soon I think."

"The others?"

Although I was a bit confused, I could easily confer that he probably meant Brad and Sarah.

"Yea, they also wanted to study with us."

Then, his door opened and, as expected, Sarah walked in, but, unexpectedly, she wasn't followed by Brad. Instead, Lindsey made her way to the table and sat down with us.

'Is she doing another attempt at getting along with her classmates?'

"Yo, guys! I'll get us some drinks before we start. Coffee, tea, or soda?"

"Coffee, please."

"Coffee."

"I would like some tea if you don't mind."

Both me and Lindsey wanted coffee, and Sarah chose some tea. While we were waiting for James to return, Sarah looked at me,

"So, what did you need help with Miren? I'm pretty sure that your intelligence was above average. Even if there are exceptions, you shouldn't have such a hard time with these classes."

It was true. If I had focused during the lessons, I would probably not have had any problems. "Well, I kind of... Let's just say it's have been hard to focus during class."

After a second of confusion, she seemed to have reached an incredibly misdirected conclusion.

"Oh! Is it because of Misa? I know the feeling..."

While I was facepalming inwardly at the stupid comment, Lindsey questioned, "Who is Misa?"

"She is just..."

Before I could finish, Sarah intervened, "It's Miren's older girlfriend! Or maybe not girlfriend... But they had... they had..."

Because the girl was busy getting herself embarrassed, with her cheeks reddening, I spoke,

"She is kind of my girlfriend."

"Oh, so that was it. I wouldn't expect you to have a girlfriend, but good for you."

Her words did sting a little.

'Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't get a girlfriend...'

At that point, James returned with a tray of beverages. Coffee, coffee, tea, and a soda for himself. Seems like he had a bit of a sweet tooth.

"So let's begin!"

We started to discuss the material for the upcoming tests, and most of it honestly wasn't that hard to understand.

The one thing that did take some time to understand, was the relationship between the districts. Although presently not enemies, they weren't quite friendly either.

There had even been times of war between some districts, the most prominent one being between District 1 the nation of the family of fire, and District 3 the nation of the earth. A war in order to claim more territory, and grow strongest, was instigated by District 1.

It had been a dark time of history, only solved when they had to unite against a common enemy, the demonkin.

After a few hours, we put the books down, and James had an interesting suggestion, "Do you guys want to do a dungeon dive this weekend? I heard that you can book a dungeon in the academies name if you want to."

A perfect opportunity for me. Not only would it let me have a chance to experience real fighting, but it could also lead to me getting some income.

"That sounds great! If we ask Brad we also have a tanker!"

Sarah was incredibly excited, even suddenly standing up, creating a delightful sight when her chest bounced.

Lindsey, on the other hand, couldn't join us, "Sorry, but I'm busy this weekend."

Then their eyes landed on me, the only one who hadn't given their answer yet.

"I'm down. I also need to make some money anyway, so if we can collect the materials, that would be great."

James took the lead, and as Lindsey left the study session, we started to discuss our plans.

"So I was thinking we should challenge an E-rank dungeon if possible. There are some easier ones that are mainly inhabited by goblins."

"Wouldn't that be an F-rank dungeon then?"

Thinking it was weird that a dungeon with only goblins could be E-ranked, James explained,

"It's because there are more variants. Goblin mages, goblins knights, and even some goblin ninjas. But with our lineup, we should be able to get through without a problem!"

'Easy for you to say, you monster!'

"So what would our formation be then? I think it would be a no-brainer that I am the backing support, and Brad is the tanker, but what about you guys?", Sarah inquired, with a thinking face.

"I think I should be the spearhead, and Miren should be the scouter!"

The problem finally arose. It was natural for James to think that I should be the scout of the party, but that was an impossibility. I couldn't use any detections spells or stealth-related skills.

"Hrmm, I don't think I can scout for us..."

Both of them turned at me with questioning gazes.

"How come?"

"I can't use mana for spells and I don't have any stealth skills..."

...

Sarah was the first to speak, "But... How? I've seen you use mana in your spars against Mike?"

"Spars against Mike? And why were you there?"

Another secret got out. Not wanting the situation to escalate, I took control of the conversation,

"Anyway, because of some conditions with my body, I can only use elementally aligned mana. Our teacher said that the only thing I can be good at is killing."

...

Another round of silence, and I was being watched with intense pity.

Unable to hold her angst inside of her, Sarah dragged me toward her and hugged me. I tried to speak, but it was hard when my head was engulfed between her breasts.

"Pleabve stuahp..."

"So that means we might have to go by without a scouter... I know a few detection spells, hopefully, that will be enough."

The golden boy had already started to think about solutions to our dilemma, and we spent the rest of the night strategizing.

In the end, we had talked with Brad over our DADs and the final step was to try and reserve the dungeon.

'Maybe this time, I will get to genuinely experience a real dungeon...'