I stood alone outside the classroom for Class A. I was much earlier than everyone else.
My ID was displayed by my watch:
[Name: Mav Callahan]
[Age: 14]
[Year: Freshman]
[Overall Ranking: 29th - Class A]
Thankfully, I managed to accomplish my goal. My overall ranking was 29th, and only the top thirty students were accepted into Class A. I had scraped past my first challenge by the skin of my teeth. This only made me more aware that there wasn't any room for slacking.
Although I had managed to kill the minotaur, I was exhausted and Perseus had been injured. Originally, I had planned to utilize the Castle more since the choke points allowed one person to defend easily while the ceiling protected the defenders from wyverns. But our exhaustion meant that we were only able to survive three more minutes-- the gorgon that arrived afterwards eviscerated us before we could react.
Gauss had survived for the full thirty minutes.
Leo had survived for twenty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds.
Those two were the first and second ranked freshmen respectively.
The shortest survival time from any other Class A student was around eighteen minutes.
We'd only survived around fifteen minutes, so managing to end up in Class A was miraculous.
Furthermore, the demonic core I had extracted from the minotaur was unfortunately not transferred into reality.
"I really have to work hard…" I thought aloud. "Everybody is so talented."
Suddenly, someone tapped me on my shoulder. I startled, turning around to face Perseus.
This also reminded me that in the original novel, Perseus didn't make it into Class A. Normally, he ended up in Class C and only appeared later in the Tri-School Tournament Arc.
Reflecting back on my writing, I mentally face-palmed. There are so many tropes…
Now that I had time to examine him while I wasn't fighting for my life, I realized that Perseus was shorter than me by about three centimeters, though his purple hair was fluffy and made him look slightly taller. He was almost as pale as I was. His round eyes made him look innocent and curious.
He looks like a lost puppy.
I barely restrained myself from patting Perseus on the head.
"Did you need something?" I asked the boy.
"You s-said you would explain after," he meekly said.
"Right," I nodded while panicking internally. I had completely forgotten to create an excuse for why I knew who Perseus was and how I knew about his magic.
"I can see glimpses of the future," I made up on the spot. Almost immediately after, I cringed from how terrible the excuse was. However, I maintained my completely serious expression.
Surprisingly, Perseus accepted this as fact. "I see… that m-makes sense…"
No, it doesn't?!
Despite my confusion, I nodded externally and began spouting random things. "I knew that my best chance of getting into Class A was pairing up with you, but my knowledge was incomplete so I couldn't find you at the beginning of the test."
Technically, everything I just said was true.
The purple-haired boy tilted his head curiously. "I assume you w-want to keep this s-secret?"
"Y-yes, I'd prefer that not everyone know…" I sheepishly nodded. "Though, I've already disclosed my secret with you, the less people who know, the better."
Seemingly excited that he had been trusted with something so important (though he didn't know that the secret was completely wrong), Perseus seemed to be much more cheerful than before.
Soon after, the rest of the students who got into Class A arrived. Everyone began mingling outside the classroom as they waited for the teacher.
Amidst the crowd, I spotted Lucia and began shouldering my way over to her.
Perseus followed behind me for some reason. Am an introvert-magnet?
I finally managed to shove through the other students. Lucia immediately smacked my back ferociously and grinned. "I knew you'd make it into Class A! Guess that hard work paid off!"
After recovering my breath, I smiled back weakly. "Yeah. I appreciate the confidence in me."
"You made lots of progress," she cheered. "Why wouldn't you get into Class A?"
Lucia curiously peered over my shoulder, quickly scanning Perseus. "By the way, who's that?"
Before I could respond, the other students around us suddenly fell silent.
Lucia, Perseus, and I turned towards the front of the crowd.
A stern man with black hair and white roots towered above the class. One long scar trailed from the side of his neck, across his left cheek, over his nose, and ended on his right temple. His skin was dark from the sun.
His voice was deep and rough, though he did not speak unkindly. "Hello. I am going to be your teacher this year. You may call me Mr. Kvasir."
"Congratulations on your excellent performance during the entrance test. Welcome to Class A."
"I will guide you through the Class A facilities on your first day." Suddenly, Mr. Kvasir's voice became even more serious. He looked each student in the eye, carefully making sure that everybody was listening. "However, do not grow complacent; your position in Class A is tenuous at best."
"You have no time to rest on your laurels. Anybody who takes your ranking during the quarterly examinations or through direct challenges can take your place."
The students tensed as they realized that they had many obstacles ahead of them. They could lose the benefits that they would enjoy if they weren't careful.
Perseus was especially nervous, constantly shifting his feet and tugging at his collar, since he was ranked 30th-- out of all the students here, he was mostly likely to be kicked out of Class A.
I patted his shoulder, trying to comfort him. He returned an uncertain, trembling smile.
Perseus must be feeling so overwhelmed, I sighed internally. There wasn't anything I could do but be there for him.
Furthermore, I agreed with everything that Mr. Kvasir said. My hard work paid off, but that didn't mean that I could slack off now. Now, I simply had more to lose when I messed up.
Mr. Kvasir continued in his rough voice. "Now, follow me everyone. I will begin showing you where you'll be living for the foreseeable future."
I have to grow stronger, I swore. There's no time to rest. I have to push myself to the limit-- and then beyond that limit.
I must survive.