"Hey, that's them, right?"

"Yeah, the honor students. I wonder what they did for even the Association to recognize them."

"They surely won't have any problems in regards to guilds to choose from."

The figures of Dignitas' party walked past the crowd of students. They all wore personally customized uniforms that were similar to tracksuits. The color scheme was a nice white mixed with a brown tint that spread out along the limbs.

News of the group's accomplishments during the invasion led to them basically turning into celebrities. 

Not by choice, of course. But in a world where every person had a role model hero, the idea of crowning people of the same rank as the lower mass as their de-facto representatives was pretty appealing in many people's eyes.

Still, Dignitas wasn't a fan of it. Now almost everywhere they went, people would whisper about the group. 

It made people hard to approach, especially when they'd run away at the sight of seeing any member get close. 

That was the least of his worries, though. By some unknown measure of misfortune, Dignitas had been placed in a completely different class than his party members. 

Instead, he had been assigned to John Ailey's class, the one taught by Professor Shib. 

"Alright, this is where we split. See you guys later." 

"Don't die, Leader." 

"Heh. I won't."

Thankfully, Dignitas' classroom wasn't very far from his team members.

But there was always the unsettling feeling of being placed in the same cage as the entirety of John's party.

It had some benefits, despite the downsides. For one, Dignitas could keep a close eye on John. 

Pushing open the door to the classroom, Dignitas gazed at the almost full-sized replica of an ancient Greek theater. On one side of the room was the platform where the teacher would stand. And directly behind him was a blackboard. 

On the other side, the room gradually rose the further you got. Seats lined up in perfect rows, with there being a pathway in the middle to ascend. 

It reminded Dignitas of the classrooms in colleges. 

"I may have underestimated how much of an honor student everyone in John's class is."

Dignitas mouth lay agape in shock at the sight of there being already half of the class seated, despite Professor Shib not being here yet. 

"Oh well. The farther the better."

Not bothering to talk to anyone, Dignitas headed up the stairs and took a seat at the very back.

"Hmm. Odd. John and his party aren't here yet." 

Dignitas looked at the room below him. There was no sign of John or Lorelai. Which was weird, since they were the type to be early. 

Thankfully, the door to the room opened, revealing John leading his teammates with a confident walk. 

He had somehow spotted Dignitas the moment he entered, even if he was all the way at the back. 

With a smile, John waved towards him, gathering the attention of his other members. Particularly, Lorelai. 

"He's here like the student list said. Who was he again… ah, the Leader of that party." The man known as Makarov reminisced. 

He was the one with blonde hair, and the only person in John's party that Dignitas knew was a born fighter. He lived for the battle, like a true warrior. 

"It's Dignitas Qwerdan. I'll go say hi to him. I heard his teammates were moved to other classes, so it must be lonely." 

"You guys can go to your seats. I'll just have a quick chat with him!" John left his party members and began running up the stairs. 

"Ah… that's John coming for me, isn't he? As if I wasn't already sick of the attention." 

Seeing the widely recognized "Strongest First Year" approaching Dignitas was enough to warrant the entire class staring at them. 

"Good morning, Dignitas! How do you like the school?"

"Good day to you, as well. It's quite nice, yes. But I do wish I wasn't the subject of interest. Hey, John, tell me. How do you handle being… the center of attention all the time?"

"Hmm… you'll get used to it. I know it's tough, but eventually, you won't even notice people's eyes anymore!"

"Hah… alright. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something. How do you feel about joining me for training later on?" 

"Training… in the school arena? I'd love to. I've been wanting to see your fighting skills myself."

"Nah. Not the arena. You're an honor student too, so you should know we have other options. How about you come to my personal training hall?"

As an honor student, Dignitas was allowed access to a wide variety of things other students were. One of them was the personal training hall. 

In addition to having a bigger and better dorm room, Dignitas also owned a private training hall. 

This hall allowed him to use the gadgets and equipment normal cadets could use in the training arena, while also being able to work in peace. 

Since the arena was a public space, any cadet could come in. 

"I see. Then, shall I come after class has ended?" 

"Yeah, that's fine. And bring your best weapon. I wouldn't want to break anything you cherish."

"Haha, no worries! Just for you, I'll bring something secret. Now then, is there anything else you wanted to talk about? If not, I'll be heading back to my teammates. Looks like the Professor is about to arrive."

"That's all. See you later, John." 

"Likewise."

The moment John had left Dignitas to his solitude, the door to the room once again opened. 

It seemed that during the time the two were talking, the entire class had been filled with the remaining students. 

As such, everyone was talking and making noise. 

But once the door opened, it all stopped. 

"This should be it… Class 1-A… yup." 

The figure of a tall man with glasses, slightly balding hair, and a messy jacket on his back entered the room. 

"Wooh, that should be it." The professor wiped his forehead with a handkerchief, in order to get rid of the sweat.

"Alright. I see some familiar faces and some new ones. But either way, this is probably you guys' first time seeing me."

"So let me introduce myself." He clapped. "My name is Shib, but you can just call me Professor Shib. I'll be you guys' homeroom teacher, as well as your teacher for… what was it again… ah, right! Mana Manipulation." 

"I'd go around and ask everybody to introduce themselves, but that'd take too much time out of my class. So in that case, I'm going to be putting two random students in a team."

"And the person you end up with is going to be your partner for the entire year. You two will do missions together, do homework together, hell, even make me coffee together." 

"The main thing is, you'll need to learn how to work with your partner. Don't expect any changes in team compositions, because I won't allow it. Now, any questions?" 

A hand was raised from the sea of students. 

"You, orange-haired guy. What's your question?"

"How will you choose the team members, Professor?"

"That's easy. Through this." Digging into his breast pocket, Professor Shib took out a familiar black pencil. 

"This is my ability, my Magic Pencil. As long as I know the general image of something, I can draw that and make it come to life via Reality Magic."

"For instance… let's try a gumball machine."

It all happened in an instant. It looked like Professor Shib dragged his pencil across the air, but a symbol appeared the moment he finished. 

And in the blink of an eye, a large, gumball machine appeared in front of him. 

"This gumball machine will be used to decide your teammate. I have already added your names in little slips of paper that are stored inside. The first two people I draw will be part of one team, and so on." 

"Once you have heard your and your partner's names, please stand up and make your way beside them."

"Now then, should we start? May you guys' luck shine upon you all today."

Pressing a button, the interior of the gumball machine started spinning rapidly. Inside the translucent ball, the slips of paper were flung around. 

After around ten or so seconds, it stopped. Two slips of paper popped out of a hatch. 

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this…" Dignitas' eyelids lowered.

"And the first team consists of… Dignitas Qwerdan, and Lorelai Seraph."

"Goddammit."