The next day marked the start of csses.

  Seneca awoke early, her chest swelling with excitement as she practiced her sword swings.

  Yesterday had been enjoyable, meeting Gaia and Prautia. Both of them possessed unique abilities, and they were incredibly intelligent. They had lived in a world so different from her own.

  She wondered what kind of people she would meet today. Would there be any strong friends? Before she knew it, she was putting more force into her swings.

  When she returned to the room, Gaia was already awake.

  "Good morning, Seneca. You’re holding a weapon, so are you going for more training?" Gaia asked, her eyes wide in disbelief.

  "Yes, I am. Since it's the first day, I kept it light," Seneca replied, a grin tugging at her lips.

  Gaia gnced at her, noticing her hair damp with sweat.

  "I don’t know how you’d call that ‘light,’ but it's still early. How about you go take a quick shower to cool off? I heard the dorms have shower rooms," Gaia suggested.

  "Really? I’ll go now," Seneca said, grabbing a towel and a change of clothes before heading out.

  As she stepped into the hallway, she bumped into Maiol coming out of the adjacent room.

  "Good morning! Are you going for a shower too?" Seneca called out cheerfully.

  "Good morning! Looks like you just finished your morning training. Let’s go together!" Maiol responded, her smile wide.

  "Yeah, I was practising with my sword in the woods by the dorm. Where were you training?" Seneca asked.

  "I was at the pza on the other side. There were a few people there, but I didn’t see anyone on your side," Maiol replied.

  "No one at all on my side," Seneca confirmed.

  "Maybe I’ll head to your side tomorrow," Maiol said with a grin as they both headed for the showers.

  ...

  The Royal Adventurers Academy covered an expansive area.

  At the centre of the grounds, a rge building stood. Most students would spend their time there, but there were a few exceptions.

  The S-Css students, for instance, had their own dedicated building, located at the far end of the school grounds.

  It stood directly opposite the girls' dormitory, so Seneca and Maiol decided to run to it.

  The two of them were wearing the standard issue school uniforms, each carrying only minimal weapons.

  The grounds were busy with students walking to and fro. Most were walking at a leisurely pace, and it wasn’t hard to tell that Seneca and Maiol’s brisk pace was drawing some attention.

  Maiol felt a little self-conscious about it, half-expecting to be judged as country bumpkins, but shrugged it off. After all, it wasn’t exactly wrong. Seneca, on the other hand, had long since grown accustomed to the attention and appeared unbothered, her eyes sparkling as she gnced around.

  "Seneca, we’re almost there. That building is where we’ll be studying," Maiol said, pointing.

  Seneca followed her gaze, spotting a rge, old stone building.

  "Is that our building?" she asked, surprised.

  "Yes, it is. When the school first started, that was the only building they had. Only the top-performing students get to study here, to carry on the tradition of the school’s original simplicity," Maiol expined.

  The area around the building appeared quiet, with only the two of them in sight. Maiol steeled herself and led the way into the building.

  ...

  Upon entering the S-Css cssroom, a few students were already there.

  "Are you two S-Css as well?" A voice called out from the centre of the room.

  A man with long golden hair approached, his posture confident and assured, despite his rather fmboyant appearance. He radiated no sign of weakness, his presence commanding.

  Seneca and Maiol nodded in response.

  "I’m Pulker Cluris, a Copper-ranked adventurer. Nice to meet you!" he said, extending his hand toward Maiol.

  "Nice to meet you too. I’m Maiol, also a Copper-ranked adventurer," Maiol replied, shaking his hand.

  "Ah! You’re Maiol! It’s an honour to meet another schorship student. So, who’s this dy?" Pulker asked, turning to Seneca.

  Seneca met his gaze. "I’m Seneca. Nice to meet you," she said, a little shy, but determined.

  Pulker grinned, not at all put off by her awkwardness.

  "I thought so! It’s amazing that two schorship students came from the Baetica branch. You must have been quite the team!" he excimed.

  "Yes, we’ve worked together from the start," Maiol said proudly.

  "I see. With two such beautiful and capable girls, you must have been popur," Pulker continued, his tone almost flirtatious.

  Maiol, inwardly annoyed, had already started calling him "the Prince" in her mind, partly out of sarcasm due to his overly familiar attitude. Seneca, however, felt nothing for him. Aside from Lucius, she thought of all other men as nothing more than potatoes.

  "Hey, Pulker! Introduce me to them too!" Another voice called out.

  A boy with spiky brown hair approached enthusiastically.

  "I’m Stroh Aedis, a Copper-ranked adventurer. Call me Stroh!" he said, giving them a wide, friendly grin.

  Stroh was as lively as he sounded.

  More students were introduced as they entered, but Seneca soon found herself losing track of names, so she politely excused herself from further introductions. Maiol was deep in conversation, but Seneca’s attention was drawn to a quiet girl sitting by the window, staring thoughtfully outside.

  Feeling an instinctive connection, Seneca decided to approach her.

  "I’m Seneca. Nice to meet you," she said warmly.

  The girl turned to her, her eyes big and round, and gave a slow, friendly response.

  "I’m Nina, from Trias. It’s nice to meet you," she replied.

  Seneca beamed with delight at their meeting.

  ...

  The start of css approached, and the students began to settle into their seats.

  Seneca chose a seat near the back. Nina sat to her left, and Maiol took the seat to her right.

  Pulker and Stroh were seated at the front, eagerly discussing who their homeroom teacher might be. It was customary for the S-Css homeroom teacher to be a distinguished adventurer.

  Maiol had been grinning for a while, but Seneca had no idea why. She chose not to press the issue and figured it was probably nothing.

  Soon, the sound of footsteps echoed through the room. It was a quiet sound, but louder than usual for adventurers. It seemed intentional.

  The room fell silent as everyone turned their attention to the door.

  A tall, lean man entered, his presence commanding, and his history written all over his face.

  "Ah!!" Seneca cried out, standing up in surprise.

  Maiol, unable to hold back, burst into ughter.

  The man looked around the room before speaking.

  "I’m Attalos Pergamon, and I’ve been assigned as your homeroom teacher for S-Css. It’s a pleasure to meet you all," he said.

  As Seneca remained frozen with her finger pointed, Pulker and Stroh jumped to their feet, shouting in excitement.

  "The ‘Meteor’ Attalos! The hero of the st campaign, the legendary Gold-ranked adventurer, is our homeroom teacher!"

  "He’s the pinnacle of Sword Magic! Unbelievable!"

  The room buzzed with chatter, and Attalos let out a dry ugh as he raised his hand to calm everyone down.

  "This year, S-Css has five schorship students, which is unprecedented. While that’s certainly a cause for celebration, it also means there will be a lot of attention on us. As your teacher, I’ll do my best to help you, but remember that adventurers are ultimately responsible for their own actions. I hope you’ll all use this opportunity to rise to greater heights.

  Some of you I’ve personally assessed. At the time, I never imagined I’d be your homeroom teacher, but it’s an honour to be here. I may not feel like I’m the best fit for this role, but I’ll guide you to the best of my ability. I’m looking forward to working with you."

  Attalos surveyed the twelve students seated in front of him, his gaze thoughtful.

  "I’ll leave the details to the vice-homeroom teacher, Mitora, but for now, every week we’ll gather for my css. The format will vary—sometimes lectures, but most of the time practical lessons. After all, this css is made up of warriors at heart. Since it’s the first day, let’s begin with some mock battles. There’s a perfect spot behind the school. Let’s all head over there."

  At his words, the students stood up, ready to move.