After about forty-five minutes, the others finally arrived. Rinwell crossed her arms and smirked. "Took you guys long enough."
Rean exhaled in relief. "There you three are—we were all looking for you."
Elliot added, smiling warmly, "Yeah, we're glad you're not hurt."
Rinwell waved it off casually. "Eh, we're fine. The monsters in this place aren't that strong."
Fie tilted her head slightly, her tone matter-of-fact. "I'm actually surprised how well you two handle yourselves—and you're pretty easy to work with."
As the group continued talking, the massive statue behind them began to tremble. Cracks spread across its surface until the stone shattered completely, revealing Iglute Garmr in its full winged glory.
Rinwell's eyes widened. "We've been sitting here in front of it for like an hour—why didn't it wake up earlier?"
Fie's shrugged and said. "Maybe there weren't enough people."
Rean tightened his grip on his tachi. "Whatever the reason, it's awake now! Everyone, battle positions!"
Rean and Gaius charged the beast, Rean slashing with his blade while Gaius drove his spear forward. Shionne and Machias laid down steady covering fire, their shots echoing through the chamber, while Elliot supported the team with arts.
Fie kept just outside the creature's attack range, eyes sharp as she darted in and struck whenever its attention shifted away from her. Rinwell planted her feet, taking careful aim with her staff and releasing focused beams of energy.
Noticing the unusual blasts, Elliot blinked in surprise. "Whoa, I didn't know the staves could do that. Can you show me later?"
Rinwell smiled, even as her staff glowed with another charge. "No problem." Her expression hardened a moment later. "On your left!"
Elliot yelped and leapt to the right just in time to dodge a deadly energy beam from the gargoyle. "Thanks!"
"You're welcome!" Rinwell called back before casting Air Strike, the art slamming into the beast. As the fight raged, she thought grimly to herself, Arts and Dahnan magic both take a bit too long to cast. I'm gonna need to look for a skill or ability that cuts the time—or nullifies it entirely. My best bet will probably be to talk Toval into teaching me some tricks.
The battle only grew fiercer. Just then, Alisa, Jusis, Laura, and Emma rushed into the room and joined the fray.
As everyone fought together, the combat links suddenly activated, just like in the game. Rinwell could feel it—the clarity, the instinct—she could see what everyone was about to do before they even moved. With their coordination heightened and their strength combined, the group overwhelmed the gargoyle at last, defeating it in a brilliant clash of blades, arts, and gunfire.
After Iglute Garmr was finally defeated, the stone dust settling around the room, Sara strolled in with her usual confident smirk. She congratulated everyone, answered a few lingering questions, and—just like in the game—gave them the option to leave the newly-formed Class VII if they wished. Naturally, not a single person did.
With their decision made, everyone trekked out of the dungeon, out of the old schoolhouse, and toward Trista. By the time they reached the dorms, exhaustion had set in, but Sara still managed to keep her voice bright as she directed everyone to their rooms.
As Rinwell followed along, she took note of the building's design. It was slightly larger than she remembered from the game, with a few extra rooms that definitely hadn't been there before. Yeah, she thought, that's gotta be Tet's doing.
When she reached her assigned room, she was pleasantly surprised to find that it came equipped with a fully functioning bathroom and shower. "Thank god," she muttered, closing the door behind her.
She dropped her bag by the wall, flopped onto the bed, and looked at her watch to check her Familiarity level. The glowing numbers made her groan.
"005%? You're shitting me. Really? Whatever," she muttered, dragging a hand down her face. "Guess raising it's gonna be harder than last time. I mean… Rinwell at her peak can wipe out an entire city solo, so I guess it makes sense."
She sighed, rolling onto her side before switching to her spell page. Under Dahnan Astral Artes, the list was short:
Air Thrust — Beginner Wind Arte
Spread — Beginner Water Arte
Photon Flash — Beginner Light Arte
"Great," Rinwell muttered. "So I only have Rinwell's basic spells for now. That'll have to do. I can pretend they're regular Arts when I'm with most of the group." She frowned thoughtfully. "The only ones I'll need to be careful around are Emma and Celine… oh, and Vita too, I guess. But she won't be tagging along on field studies, so I'll just have to watch out when I'm in town."
She sat up, stretching her arms before shaking her head. "Eh, I'll worry about all that later."
With that, she took a long, hot shower to wash away the day's exhaustion, and crawled into bed. The moment her head hit the pillow, sleep claimed her instantly.
After about a week of classes, Sara stood at the front of the room, a mischievous grin playing on her lips. "Alright, class, don't forget—tomorrow's your first free day! And make sure you sign up for a club. Oh, and before you leave, I should mention that on Wednesday you'll be having your first practical exam. After that, I'll be announcing an important part of Class VII's curriculum that I've been keeping secret."
She gave a teasing wink before clapping her hands. "And with that—class dismissed! Machias, if you would?"
Machias stood sharply, straightening his glasses. "Yes, Instructor!" he said, clearing his throat before calling, "Stand and bow!"
Everyone followed his command, bowing in unison before the classroom erupted into chatter as the students began filing out.
Rinwell and Shionne exchanged a knowing glance before quickly grabbing their bags and darting toward the door—both determined to escape before Sara could rope them into being her errand girls instead of Rean.
As they made their way back toward the dorms, Rinwell stretched and glanced over. "So, Shionne, gonna join any clubs?" she asked casually.
Shionne folded her arms, thinking for a moment. "I'd prefer to join a club that lets me hone some of my skills," she said thoughtfully. "But since there's no clubs for sniping or marksmanship, I think I'll just join the cooking club."
Rinwell raised a brow, a teasing smirk tugging at her lips. "But your cooking skill is already maxed out."
"Maybe," Shionne replied with a light shrug, "but it sounds fun—so I'm doing it."
Rinwell chuckled softly. "I think I'll join the fishing club. It seems fun."
Once they were back at their dorms, Rinwell closed her door behind her and sank down onto her bed, taking a deep breath. After a moment, she crossed her legs and settled into a meditative position. Her thoughts quieted as she focused inward. She needed something—some skill—to help calm her bloodlust when she was back in her base form. Meditation seemed like her best option she'd been trying to get it for over a week now.
She remained like that for hours, controlling her breathing, keeping her thoughts steady until finally, a faint ding echoed from her watch. Opening her eyes, she glanced at the holographic message that appeared:
New Skill Acquired: Meditation (Novice)
+2% mana regeneration and -2% bloodlust per minute while meditating
Rinwell grinned, satisfaction flickering in her eyes. "Awesome,"
A sudden knock at the door made her blink. "Huh?" She got up and opened it, only to find Rean standing there, holding a small notebook.
"Hey there—Rinwell, right? I brought your student notebook," he said, his tone polite but a little uncertain.
Rinwell smiled faintly. "Cool, thanks, dude."
Rean blinked, clearly not expecting that. "Um—no problem," he said quickly, before turning to walk down the hall.
As he went, Rinwell swore she heard him mutter, "The heck's a 'dude'...?"
She couldn't help but grin. "Oh, this year's gonna be fun."
The next day, Rinwell left the dorms bright and early, the morning sun glinting off the rooftops as she made her way straight to the Student Union Building. Her goal was clear—join the Fishing Club.
Pushing open the door to the club room, she found a young man sitting at a table surrounded by tackle boxes, rods, and charts of fish species. He wore the white academy uniform of the nobles and had short brown hair with matching eyes. Looking up from his paperwork, he greeted her warmly.
"Hello there. You must be a first-year. I'm Kenneth LakeLord."
"Hi, Kenneth. I'm Rinwell," she replied with a polite smile.
"Nice to meet you, Rinwell. How can I help you today?" he asked, his tone friendly but professional.
"I'd like to join the Fishing Club," Rinwell said simply.
"Fantastic!" Kenneth's expression brightened as he reached for a small stack of papers and a pen. "Just fill these out, please."
Rinwell nodded and quickly filled out the forms, handing them back once she was done.
"Alright," Kenneth said approvingly, glancing over the paperwork. "All the gear in here is free for members to take—but only one set per person. Take good care of it, okay?"
Rinwell smiled faintly. "Other than the obvious, anything I need to know?"
Kenneth replied, "At the end of the year, we submit the records of all our catches to the Imperial Fishing Club. The member with the best results gets a large cash prize. Oh—and if you completely fill out the fishing log I'm about to give you, I'll reward you with a rare quartz."
"Sounds great," Rinwell said, grinning as she accepted the logbook and grabbed a set of fishing gear.
Just as she was about to leave, Kenneth called out, "Oh! Make sure you only fish in the river in town or in the pond by the gymnasium!"
"You got it," Rinwell replied with a wave before heading off.
Naturally, she made her way to the river near the lower-class dorms. The water shimmered under the midday sun as she set up her gear and cast her line. Hours passed peacefully—she caught plenty of swordtails and several gray crabs. The swordtails went back into the water, but she stored the crabs neatly in her inventory.
As the sun began dipping low in the sky, her watch chimed with a soft ding.
New Skill Acquired: Fishing (Novice)
Slightly increases chance of catching small fish. Reduces line breakage on weak fish.
Rinwell smirked. "Well, that's handy. Hopefully it gets better with time. But I think that's my cue to wrap up and head back—the sun's starting to set."
After packing up, she returned to the dorm and went straight for the kitchen. Rolling up her sleeves, she began cleaning and prepping the crab she caught, setting them aside for a side dish. For the main course, she started working on noodles and beef.
Not entirely sure if this world had all the right ingredients, she discreetly pulled a few items from her inventory. After an hour of work—and a lot of taste-testing—she had several steaming portions of beef lo mein and crispy crab rangoons ready to go.
Rinwell wiped her forehead and sighed. "Damn, was I craving Chinese takeout. Why'd I make this of all things?"
She plated the food carefully, setting the dishes on the dining table—enough for everyone in Class VII. Just as she was placing down the final plate, Sara stumbled in, stretching and yawning.
"Damn, what smells so good?" Sara said, rubbing her eyes. "It actually woke me up from my nap!"
Her gaze landed on the spread, and her eyes lit up. "I don't know what this is, but I'm eating it." Without hesitation, she sat down and began digging in enthusiastically.
Moments later, Fie walked in, sniffing the air. "Something smells awesome," she murmured, taking a seat.
One after another, the rest of Class VII trickled in, following the delicious aroma. The last three to arrive were Rean, Gaius, and Elliot.
"Oh man, was I hungry," Elliot groaned happily, already reaching for a plate.
"Yeah," Rean agreed with a grin. "Thanks, Rinwell."
"This is very good," Gaius added appreciatively.
Alisa nodded. "Yeah, it's not bad."
Jusis crossed his arms, pretending not to be impressed. "It's… passable."
Machias immediately shot him a glare. "Well, I think it's amazing!"
Emma chuckled softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you for the food, Rinwell."
Laura gave a small nod. "Indeed. It's very well made."
Finally, Shionne smirked, arms folded. "Eh, I can do better."
Rinwell arched an eyebrow, amused. "Thanks for the compliments, everyone. And Shionne—if you can do better, feel free to prove it."
"Oh, I will," Shionne replied confidently, her lips curving into a grin. "I'll handle breakfast."