Zain and Ria. (6)

Ria sat in the teachers' lounge as she waited for Mr. Slinger, who had asked her to come there. The teachers' lounge was spacious and luxurious.

Mr. Slinger arrived and sat down across from her. There was a long wooden coffee table separating them.

Mr. Slinger smiled at her and said, "Lady Ria, your missions have been chosen. But aside from that, the academy has also decided to assign you some official scavenger missions. Are you up for it?"

Ria nodded, saying yes to the missions, and asked, "But Mr. Slinger, am I allowed to take scavenger missions in my first year?"

Mr. Slinger smiled. "All students who wear the elite class uniform," he gestured at her uniform, "are allowed to take official rank missions that the Scavenger Association assigns to the academy. This includes scavenger missions."

"I understand, sir. I will now take my leave."

As Ria was walking outside the building and heading to class, the students she met on her way occasionally greeted her and smiled, but Ria greeted them with her usual coldness. She entered the first-year building and went to Class C.

Ria stood at the entrance of Class C and studied the faces of the students mingling in the class. The students all had C-ranked badges. At the academy, being friends with a person from a different class was considered strange, as you were either stronger or weaker than the other class.

Ria stood there as she searched for Kelsey. She finally found her sitting at the far corner of the class, alone. Kelsey was sleeping—or at least it seemed like it.

Ria entered the classroom and immediately caught the students' attention. As she walked towards Kelsey, all the students in the classroom stared at her.

The students were not staring at Ria per se, nor her black uniform, which only a few received, but rather at the symbol on her white badge—it was "A+."

"It's her," one of the boys whispered.

"Shh... I know," the other boy answered.

Ria reached Kelsey's desk and stood in front of her. She was not sure how to wake her up.

One of the girls in the classroom, who, judging by her expression, looked like one of the social leaders of the class, asked Ria, "Miss A+, what do you want here?"

The girl who asked had brown skin, short black hair, and blue eyes that reflected resentment. Her silver uniform complimented her athletic build.

"Hey, what are you saying? That's Lady Ria," one of the girls spoke.

Ria turned her head to look at her and shrugged, then answered in a cold tone, "I am here for her."

"Isn't that Ria's voice?" Kelsey thought as she straightened her body to see who had spoken. Her eyes met Ria's.

"Lady Ria. What are you doing here?" Kelsey surprisingly asked.

Ria smiled and answered, "That's a rude question. Aren't we friends? I thought I would come and visit you."

Her answer startled the whole class.

"Friends? How?"

"She smiled. I didn't know the Ice Princess could smile."

"Her smile is amazing."

"How is that possible?"

The students murmured to each other as they stared at Ria and Kelsey.

"Kelsey, I want to meet you after classes. Is that alright?" Ria asked her.

"Okay, but where?"

Ria handed Kelsey her cyber screen.

"You can add your contact info to my cyber screen so that I can send you the address."

Kelsey nodded and added her contact info. With that, they now had each other's contact info.

Kelsey looked at Ria's chat box pop up on her cyber screen and said, "It's done, Lady Ria."

"Call me Ria, Kelsey. We are friends, after all."

Ria walked away. "I will send you the address."

Before Ria walked out of the door, the girl from earlier banged the table.

"What is going on here? How is she your friend? Answer me!" the girl addressed Ria.

"What do you mean by that? She is my friend," Ria answered.

"Is this some sick joke?" the girl angrily spoke as she continued, "We all know it is impossible to be friends with people from her class."

Ria stared at the girl with her cold expression. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "It's not impossible. You have just never asked the right people."

She lingered for a bit and left. The girl scowled and sat down with a sour expression.