Shye woke up, stared at the ceiling, then grinned like an idiot. The "private time" he shared with Shirley was still fresh in his mind and it still felt surreal to him.
That was his first time experiencing something as pleasant as that ever and he thinks that he wouldn't be able to say no to that anytime soon.
Shye wanted to enjoy reminiscing about his private time with Shirley but unfortunately, today was the start of the second semester so he had to get up and prepare for school.
He was running a little late again so he quickly walked downstairs, prepared and ate a simple meal of fried rice and eggs, before walking to school with a quickened pace.
Fortunately, he wasn't late this time. Upon arriving at the entrance of their classroom, his eyes met Shirley's and the two of them slightly blushed.
Some of their attentive classmates didn't miss the small interaction between them and immediately started a commotion.
"Oh?! What's going on between you two?! Could it b-"
"Could it be that you want me to smack your head off?"
Luckily, Shye and Shirley managed to get off easy because Instructor Fienna arrived at the perfect time.
"I-Instructor Fiena…I'm sorry…"
Their classmate who was causing a commotion laughed awkwardly and apologetically bowed toward Instructor Fienna.
"Whatever, just go back to your seats so we can start the class!"
Everyone in the class who was standing quickly returned back to their seats as Instructor Fienna started taking everyone's attendance.
No one dared to be absent on their first day so Instructor Fienna was satisfied.
After the attendance, everyone expected Instructor Fienna to lead them out to the training grounds but they were wrong.
Instead, Fienna took out a stack of rectangular cards which left everyone confused.
"Now, everyone thank Crowley, these are beginner skill cards which you may use to select one skill of your choice in the Skills Pavilion"
"There should have been no way that you weaklings would get a skill during your entire four years here but because Crowley defeated Lionheart, Dean Snowcrest has decided to reward the entire class with these beginner skill cards."
After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, all of Shye's classmates including Anthony and Shirley were stupefied.
Even for the two of them, acquiring a skill inside the academy was very hard because although they were seeded candidates, their parents didn't have a high rank as adventurers.
Anthony's parents were both ruby-ranked while Shirley's parents were simply platinum-ranked. Due to this, buying skill books for them would make their families go broke.
However, Colzen Adventurer Academy gave them a pleasant surprise by providing skill cards for them. Now, they would at least secure one skill for themselves before they graduate!
Everyone looked at Shye and gave him a bow. Some of his classmates who were in a desperate situation even kowtowed in front of him which made him very uncomfortable.
"E-Everyone please raise your heads! All of us took part in the end-of-semester tournament so you guys also earned this yourselves!"
After hearing what Shye said, his classmates felt even more thankful to him.
However, they felt that they were closer to Shye now due to everything they experienced at the end-of-semester tournament so they didn't stand on ceremony and excitedly received their beginner skill cards from Instructor Fienna.
"Did everyone receive their cards?" Fienna asked
"Yes, Instructor Fienna!"
The class answered in unison.
"Good, now, the reason why I gave you the skill cards this early is because we will be conducting our very first novice class practicum next week."
"The whole class will go adventuring inside the beginner adventurer zone in teams of 7 so before I let you all go inside the beginner adventurer zone, I want all of you to select one skill from the skills pavilion and at least achieve basic mastery within a week."
After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, everyone except Shye, Anthony, and Shirley, clenched their fists in excitement.
For most of their classmates, this would be their actual first time adventuring inside the beginner adventurer zone so they were excited.
In contrast, the three rankers, Shye, Anthony, and Shirley, were already regulars inside the beginner adventurer zone so they weren't that excited.
What made the three of them excited was the free skill provided by Colzen Adventurer Academy to them.
"Are there any more questions about the class practicum?"
Instructor Fienna scanned her eyes over the entire class and since no one asked any questions, she assumed that there were none.
"Alright, good, for today, run a hundred laps around the training field!"
"Yes, Instructor Fienna!"
The entire class enthusiastically stood up from their seats and sprinted towards the training fields because after receiving a skill card, everyone started to dream that maybe, if they kept working hard, they would exceed the gold rank which was the lifetime goal of "ordinary" adventurers.