Nova and Anastasia sat in his room, with a large amount of food between them.
『Then, let's begin to eat!』[Nova]
He picked up a burger and dug into it.
『Ah.. I haven't had burgers in a while! 』[Nova]
By the time he finished eating the first burger, he found that Anastasia was still having trouble.
『...Aren't you going to eat?』[Nova]
She looked into the bag, and went through it.
『...Isn't there any silverware?』[Anastasia]
When she said this, the
Nova almost dropped his second burger in shock.
『...Uh. You can use your hands to eat.』[Nova]
『But.. Isn't it… unrefined?』[Anastasia]
He shook his head.
『Hahaha! No. You can just let loose around me. I don't really care about the prestige of the houses and all that.』[Nova]
She looked at the burger, with almost a look of fear.
Before long, she slowly picked up the wrapped burger and unwrapped it.
She stared into the crevasses of the sandwich, where the cheese melted onto the beef and the crisp vegetables that sat between the buns.
『...Then, I will eat.』[Anastasia]
She picked it up and bit into it.
『...Well? How is it?』[Nova]
She silently continued to eat the burger.
『...?!』[Anastasia]
Before long, she finished the burger.
『...So?』[Nova]
『...Yummy.』[Anastasia]
「...That was an unexpectedly cute word?!」[Nova]
Afterwards, they finished the meal and went to bed normally.
-----
It was the day after when Nova had made his way into the cafeteria.
All around him were hushed whispers and conversation.
He sat down at his normal table with his group of friends.
『...Is something wrong?』[Nova]
Leo began to choke on his food and quickly began to drink down some juice.
『The hell?! You beat Anastasia Soryl, you idiot!』[Leo]
Nova was taken aback by Leo's aggressive behavior.
『Huh?! What does that mean?! Why are you calling me an idiot?!』[Nova]
Even Rai laughed at Nova.
『Man.. You really are an idiot! She's the number 1 rising star of the academy!』[Rai]
『Huh?! So what?!』[Nova]
『That means that you beat the person who was thought to be number 1 of the freshman year, idiot.』[Rai]
『So that means you're number 1 of our year!』[Leo]
Nova shrugged.
『That's pretty good, right?』[Nova]
『...Well, people will definitely challenge you from here on. But to be honest, your ranking still sucks.』[Rai]
Andrew and Jack sat down at the table.
『Yo! Didn't see you yesterday! Where were you, Nova?』[Andrew]
『Come on, Andrew.. You should have heard already.』[Jack]
Jack nodded his head while crossing his arms.
『Oh. I got into a ranking fight early in the morning and got knocked out.』[Nova]
Jack nodded his head before realizing what Nova said.
『...What?』[Jack]
『Woah? They beat you?!』[Andrew]
『I heard that you won though! Didn't you fight against Anastasia Soryl?』[Jack]
『Oh. Well, she's the number one person in our grade.Couldn't be helped, the "Immortal Cold Lily" is immortal for a reason, after all.』[Andrew]
He crossed his arms and nodded his head as well.
『No. I won.』[Nova]
『...Huh?!』[Andrew]
『Didn't you get beat up and knocked out?!』[Jack]
『Well.. Yeah. But I didn't lose.』[Nova]
『Did you beat her up? You actually laid hands on a girl?!』[Rai]
Nova vigorously shook his head while shouting in a loud voice.
『NO! GOD DAMN BRO! I WOULD NEVER BEAT A GIRL UP! WHY WOULD YOU SUGGEST THAT?!』[Nova]
『...Suggest beating up girls?』[Student]
『Who in the world?!』[Student]
『...I think I have made a mistake.』[Rai]
Nova's shouting caused the people of the cafeteria to give strange looks to their group…
Specifically Rai.
『...Why do I set myself up like this?』[Rai]
-----
After breakfast, Nova walked into the classroom.
A few steps into the classroom, he felt his joints tense up.
『DAMN IDIOT!』
Nova felt a force grab him from behind and throw him onto the floor.
『AGGH?!』[Nova]
All of his joints felt like they were being pulled together.
Reagan sat on his back and pulled at all his limbs.
『YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO RANK THE CLASS AS NUMBER ONE, NOT FIGHT YOUR CLASSMATES!』[Reagan]
『AAAAAAAAH!! REAGAN! PLEASE STOP!!』[Nova]
After a few minutes of suffering, Nova was finally let off the hook.
He laid on the floor completely motionless.
『...I will fight others.. I just didn't know where to go for fights...』[Nova]
『...Oh yeah, huh? So did you fight Miss Soryl for points?』[Reagan]
Nova thought about his question for a moment, before realizing that if he told Reagan "No", then Anastasia would also suffer from the punishment he just felt.
『Yeah. She was helping me gain points! How many do I have now?』[Nova]
When he said this, Reagan punched him on the head again.
『Check your app.』[Reagan]
『Why are you so violent today?!』[Nova]
Reagan walked over to his board and began to write down today's date.
『9/14. Final day to drop classes. You're all stuck here, even if I put you through the ultimate hell.』[Reagan]
『...Haah.』[Nova]
He sat himself up and got up to his seat.
Afterward, he turned on his ID and navigated to the app.
In the app was a dark blue themed window that featured the number 100 below "Ranking Points", and a large button that said "Queue for Fight".
『100 points, how is that?』[Nova]
Reagan nodded.
『Good start. Then, hit the number one ranking. All you have to do is go press the "Queue" button and go to the arena each time you get called. Or challenge them. Either one.』[Reagan]
Reagan then read through some papers he had brought into class.
Afterward, he skimmed the class for attendance and found everyone there.
『Then, let's begin the lecture for this week. Yesterday we got some extra practice on the brownlings. So, we will take a break and learn more about monsters today.』[Reagan]
Marn yawned and sighed out loud.
『But Reagan… It's so boring. I'd rather be destroying brownlings!』[Marn]
He swung his fist a few times, as if he could imagine the browning exploding into smithereens.
『Shut it. You can only kill about 30 tops. Your seed ability makes you almost useless after using it.』[Reagan]
『Hey! It's my ace in the hole! Besides, when I used it yesterday I was okay!』[Marn]
『...You spent 5 minutes kneeling on the floor. Although it was a lot better than the first time you used it.』[Katherin]
『Hey! What the heck, Katherin? 』[Marn]
Reagan cleared his throat.
『So, we will begin with the anatomy of a monster.』[Reagan]
He pointed to the center of a diagram that he drew.
『Here at the center, we have a core. Depending on the beast, it might be in a different place, or even have multiple cores.』[Reagan]
He then pulled out the picture of a browning.
『Brownlings have one core. That is why they are the ultimate basic creature.』[Reagan]
『Reagan! We know this already, come on! Can we get some new information?』[Thomas]
『Sure. This is for an exam though, so make sure you remember.』[Reagan]
Next, he pulled out a picture of a small pebble sized core.
『This one is of course the core of a second circle brownling. First circle brownlings are the equivalent of an infant. They do not have a core, and do not attack humans.』[Reagan]
『Wait! Why don't they attack humans, Reagan?』[Nova]
『First circle brownlings don't have cores. The reason why second circle and above attack others is to consume them for sustenance or to grow in power. First circle brownlings must consolidate a core before they consume others.』[Reagan]
He then pulled a picture of a small lemon sized brownling with 2 arms and 2 legs.
「...The baby brownling?」[Nova]
『...Cute.』[Jade]
He was a little shocked hearing Jade's voice.
Now that Nova thought about it, Jade was even more quiet than Anastasia was most of the time.
『Now we move on to the main topic. Partner creatures.』[Reagan]
The class have him a confused look.
『Partner creatures?』[Jenny]
Reagan nodded, then made a small incision on his index finger with a blade of mana.
『Come forth, Xandis.』[Reagan]
A small magical circle appeared above his finger and blinded the class with a great white light.
When they could see again, there was a black snake curling around Reagan's arm, affectionately licking his fingers.
『This is a summoned partner creature. Only about 1 in 10 people can become a "summoner". Otherwise, the remaining 9 in 10 would become a "tamer".』[Reagan]
Sophia suddenly stood up and slammed her desk.
『A pet?!』[Sophia]
『...No. A partner creature is a creature that forms a pact with you out of mutual interest. It's unknown what they want, but over time you form a bond with them and eventually become a type of family.』[Reagan]
『So.. That snake is your family, Reagan?』[Jenny]
『Eh, pretty close. You know you're a summoner when the creature reveals itself to you. You cannot look for it. As for a tamer, you must befriend or subdue a first circle beast. The outcome of the pact you form with it is also determined by your choice of befriending it or subduing it.』[Reagan]
『Wait… so what you want us to do is?』[Marn]
Reagan snapped his fingers and a gate appeared.
『Yup. Let's go get some of you a partner.』[Reagan]