Show of Hands

"Now, welcome back to the start of a new semester.", Mike said as he took his place behind his podium.

"As it seems you have already noticed that our missing student is back, I will abstain from talking about his return. I do want you to keep in mind that he has been for a while, meaning that not only might he be shaken from getting abducted, but he also didn't have access to the same kind of resources while training. So don't get too surprised if his status might seem a bit lacking later on."

After his short explanation of my situation, he did a quick role call before continuing our first class of the semester.

The atmosphere in the classroom was still incredibly tense after our earlier interaction, with everyone appearing to feel a bit suffocated except for me and Lindsey who just lazily kept our focus on our teacher.

"So, today we will be doing a remeasure of everyone's statuses. After that, you are free to do as you like for the rest of the day, although I think it would be nice if you tried to get along with each other. From this semester on your honeymoon phase at the academy is officially over and dungeon dives will be happening a lot more frequently. This year you might even have to dive into a three-star dungeon."

A three-star dungeon was supposedly in another world compared to one- or two-star dungeons. The biggest difference was that not only were the monsters stronger, a lot of the time you had to fight against the environment itself. Some of them would be hot desserts, some would be peaks of frozen mountains and some could even be underwater.

Needless to say, it required a lot more than just being able to kill creatures. One had to have a good group dynamic, the right tools, and specific skillsets. I didn't have any of these, unfortunately. I was literally only good at one thing, killing. I couldn't scout for enemies, nor could I manipulate any elements to create water, heal someone or build a camp, and I certainly did not have the qualifications to lead a group.

"Now, let's get going to the lab and check out how much stronger you guys have gotten!"

Everyone quickly left their seats, except for me and Lindsey who took our time to stand up. My dear classmates didn't want to interact with me anymore, understandably so. I would probably have a similar reaction if I was in their shoes. But I had to make my mark, and as our relationships were already destroyed after the rankings, I didn't care much.

As we were walking, Lindsey walked next to me. Somehow, it wasn't all too awkward. I already knew about her little quirks and unimaginably bad social competence. But Lindsey managed to surprise me once again. She turned her head down to me,

"Miren?"

"Huh?"

She suddenly opened her mouth and initiated a conversation, wanting to ask me something.

"Why did you do that against Bayyan? We all know he is wrong anyway, you got personally scouted by the principal after all. Couldn't you just have ignored him or something?"

I don't think I could ever remember her talking this much ever since our initial presentation during our first semester. Taking a couple of seconds I pondered how much I should reveal about my inner intentions. This could be a chance to cement at least one ally in my class, but would she understand where I was coming from?

I decided to go on a middle ground, exposing a bit of how I was reasoning, "I had to show them all that I am not someone they can just order around as they want. I might not have any grand backing in the form of a large family or money, but if they mess with me there will be consequences. That's all."

I didn't feel the need to talk about how I was actually pretty desperate to stay in the academy and that I couldn't afford to let anything hinder me from getting stronger.

Looking up at the beautiful woman I tried to gauge her reactions. She seemed to ponder a bit about what I just said but in the end, she just nodded, accepting my explanation.

Just before we entered the recording room she concluded our conversation with some melancholy words, "It's just a bit sad, I think..."

I still didn't know much about Lindsey, but after this conversation, she felt a bit more... human, I think.

We took our places in a line, just like the last time, and waited for our teacher to start the process.

"Now, we will begin in the order of your rankings, from the lowest ranked student to the highest. Although James is currently the highest ranked student of the freshmen, in this class I still regard Miren to be so, as someone has still to prove otherwise."

It appeared that I had already lost my ranking. It wasn't really a surprise, you couldn't have the number 1 ranked student be absent almost half of a semester and keep his spot.

"Let's begin, Arthur!"

The measuring orb came out of the floor and the giant screen behind it lit up.

Arthur walked up to the orb and put his hand on it.

{For all of you that don't remember the minor steps of mana grade are [Lower] →[Intermediate]→[Middle]→[Higher]}

===Status===

Name: Arthur Pradd

Rank: ★★

Strength: II

Speed: II

Stamina: III

Intelligence: IIII

Mana grade: ★★ [High]

==========

He hadn't managed to break through to a three-star rank yet. Just from looking at his status, one would assume that he hadn't improved at all, but this wasn't necessarily true. Star rating wasn't everything. He could still have improved his mana control or even increased the quality of his mana a bit, just not enough to break through.

"Sarah Lindt!"

Sarah was the next one up, although I wasn't sure what ranking she had between students. She could also still be unranked and Mike just decided to check her after Arthur.

===Status===

Name: Sarah Lindt

Rank: ★★★

Strength: II

Speed: III

Stamina: III

Intelligence: IIII

Mana grade: ★★★ [Middle]

==========

Sarah had managed to break through two minor steps in her mana grade, it was incredible progress as she had started at a Mana grade III [Lower]. The higher your M.G. was, the harder it was to improve.

"Very well done Sarah! You must have worked hard!"

"Thank you, teacher!"

She walked back with a big smile on her face, happy to have received compliments from Mike.

"Next up, Akane!"

The class continued to show their improvements, with all of them having except for Arthur had been making quite some headway.

Akane had managed to break through to a three-star ranking, her M.G. being [Lower], and Brad was the same. Suzuka had managed to improve her M.G from a three-star rating [Lower] to an [Intermediate].

Next up was Bayyan. He had already collected himself from his pitiful display in the classroom and once again had a prideful aura surrounding him. Putting his hand on the orb we got to see his progress.

===Status===

Name: Bayyan Rashmir

Rank: ★★★

Strength: V

Speed: V

Stamina: III

Intelligence: III

Mana grade: ★★★ [Middle]

==========

Bayyan had gone from a three-star [Intermediate] mana grade to a [Middle]. His progress wasn't by any means bad, but, so far, Sarah had the most impressive development in her status. As stated, it would be harder to advance from a three-star [Lower] to a [Intermediate] grade than it was to advance from a two-star [Lower] to a [Higher] grade.

Before he entered the line again he gave me a quick look of superiority, as if he didn't remember what had happened less than an hour ago.

'He is just a kid after all...'

It shouldn't be forgotten that my classmates were all 16 - and 17-year-olds. They weren't adults. That didn't mean I could go easy on them though, they were all too powerful to be negligent.

"Lindsey!"

Lindsey also made her way to the orb and nonchalantly put her hand on it.

===Status===

Name: Lindsey Borr

Rank: ★★★

Strength: IIII

Speed: IIII

Stamina: IIII

Intelligence: IIII

Mana grade: ★★★ [Middle]

==========

Lindsey also managed to advance one minor rating of her M.G. Also still impressive, but it wasn't enough to blow my mind. If someone from outside the academy saw this they would probably be astonished, to raise a minor grade at the three-star realm in just half a year was incredibly impressive, but to me, I could already predict what was to come.

When Lindsey turned around to us, she also gazed at me, but very unlike how Bayyan did. Her eyes seemed to carry the words; 'See, I'm also strong!'

I had no idea why she felt the need to prove herself to me, we had no real relationship with each other after all, but at least it was cuter than what Bayyan had just pulled.

As Lindsey walked back to the line I could feel my heart beat a little bit faster. Now was the time to see it, the progress of a hero, or in my case, an enemy.