Two days had passed since Asher and Alyssa's spar, and right now, Elsa was giving a special lecture to Class 1.
"So, as you know, we will be forming two teams in the new structure of World Academy," Elsa said as she looked at the class.
"One of them will be a Class Team consisting of three students, and the other will be a hunting team consisting of 6-10 students for Dungeon Exploration that will start for the First Year Students as well," she said.
"But we have already decided on the students in the Class Team," Elsa said.
Her words upset some students, as they had thought they could form teams with their friends.
"Except for one, we were told to form teams while matching your talents, ranks, and overall scores," Elsa said as she looked at Asher.
'D+ Rank, already,' she was surprised that he had reached D+ Rank.
'But it's good that he realizes that ranking up is not that easy,' she could sense that Asher's mana core was D+ Rank.
Even though D+ Rank was shocking, it would have shocked many people if Asher had reached C- Rank.
This kind of talent would not only have attracted the world's attention, but people who despised the Greville Family would have become even more worried seeing such a monstrous talent grow.
Asher noticed Elsa's gaze and was currently using his Mana Conceal skill to make it seem like he was still D+ Rank.
He was ready to show his C- Rank, but it wasn't bad for now if he could hide it.
"Each Professor from Class 1 to 5 will choose one team representing the whole class," Elsa said.
"From our Class, it will be Asher Greville, Alyssa Astaria, and Venessa Baker," Elsa announced to the team.
"In Class Exclusive Events, or Matches that will happen in the future, you will work in these teams," Elsa said.
"But the most important teams will be Hunter Teams, and this team will participate in all the Dungeon Exploration, and we are giving you a choice to form your own teams," Elsa said.
"Hunter Teams will be formed for your Mid Term Examination only, so choose carefully who you pick in your team," Elsa said.
"Previously, we would only make a random team of four people for First Year students, but we have decided to change it into what an actual Hunter team is like," Elsa explained.
"As you know, exploring dungeons means your life is on the line, and your team is crucial to that exploration. A decently built team can even outperform a group of talented people who were grouped together without much thought," Elsa said.
"As most of you will be working in Guilds or the Associations of your choice, we are making sure you understand the importance of working in a team from Year One," Elsa said.
"You can have people from other classes. Of course, we will not impose any restrictions if you want to build a team with high-ranking students only, but," Elsa tapped the bracelet on her wrist.
"Be prepared, as we will increase the difficulty according to the team you build," Elsa looked at the faces of the students.
Most of them planned to group with high-ranking students to score better, but doing so had its own issues.
"But you will be given an individual rating depending on your performance in your team," Elsa reminded them.
Each Hunter Team will be given assignments to complete, and if their team were better, their assignment would become even more difficult.
But that didn't mean completing them would give them the same grades. Your own individual performance on your team mattered a lot in such cases.
"Your Mid Term Examinations will be Team-Based, and End Term Examination will be based on Individual Duels," Elsa explained the format for the First Year.
"So score as much as you can on your teams if you want to boost your rankings when you go to your Second Year," Elsa concluded the class.
"That's all. Form your hunter teams and tell the group leader to send me your team details," Elsa said as she concluded her class.
She left the class as the students started talking with each other.
Asher stood up from his seat and left the class.
"Do you want to join our team?" Alyssa asked Venessa through the metallic mask she wore to cover half of her face.
She remembered that Asher had given her the choice to invite Venessa if she wanted to.
He had already told her about the potential people joining the team.
"Yeah, but what about the others," Venessa asked, as she knew not many people would join due to Alyssa's reputation.
Alyssa brought out her ID Bracelet and tapped on it to show the list of people that Asher had told her about.
"These two make sense, but why him?" Venessa said as she looked at Sam's name.
"Well, he wasn't half bad in the Duel Class," she muttered.
***
Some hours later,
While in Class 5, Sam Allister was talking with Matthew.
"So you will join Kevin Whiteheart's team?" Sam asked with a bored look on his face.
"Did Leonard Tarvian tell you to join his team?" Sam asked, knowing Matthew had joined the Blood Faction already.
"I don't have much of a choice, and he is Rank 2," Matthew replied.
They had become surprisingly good friends, but Sam didn't want Matthew to join Kevin's team.
But knowing that Matthew had joined the World Academy with World Association's Special Recommendation, he knew that refusing Leonard was not good for him.
Jack, who was in the Blood Faction, didn't tell him to join Kevin's Team because he knew the chances of the Princess of Halcyon being on Kevin's team were high.
"What team are you joining?" Matthew asked.
"I have joined one already, and you will probably lose to us," Sam replied as he shrugged his shoulders.
Matthew squinted his eyes as having Rank 2 Kevin with him meant that his chances of winning were very high unless Sam was in a particular person's team.
"Wait, did you join Asher Greville?" Matthew asked.
"Yes, and don't tell anyone," Sam reminded him.
At first, he wanted to refuse Asher, but he decided to join them when he remembered Asher's promise.
Knowing his circumstances, Sam knew that Asher would probably not make it difficult for him.
'Kalvas Gala is coming as well,' Sam thought.
***
"What are you doing, Kevin?" Elena asked as she saw Kevin looking through his phone.
They were sitting in the Lobby area, waiting for someone to arrive.
"I was trying to contact my Father, but the Head Butler told me he was busy," Kevin replied.
"Maybe it's because of the Kalvas Gala," Elena replied as she remembered that Kamden Whiteheart was one of the Seven Heads of the Kalvas Gala.
"Did you need something from your father?" Elena asked,
"It was nothing much. I just wanted to confirm certain things," Kevin replied with a smile.
He couldn't tell her he had accepted Leonard Tarvian's offer, but he wanted to consult about it with his father.
Kevin looked back at his phone, but Elena kept noticing Kevin's behavior.
It was not hard for her to notice that he was trying to dodge her question.
'Usually, he would tell me everything,' Elena thought.
She kept thinking about what might have been bothering Kevin, but their conversation stopped when she saw a black-haired girl with golden-colored eyes walking toward them.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Lishia said as she sat on one of the couches.
"No, we arrived just now as well," Elena smiled.
"So you wanted to talk about something?" Lishia asked.
"Yeah, we were forming our Hunter Teams, so we wanted to see if you would join us," Elena said as she looked at Lishia.
"Hmm, it's not a bad offer. I don't mind it," Lishia replied after thinking for a second.
"Who is on your team?" Lishia asked.
"It will be me, Elena, Eva, Matthew, and you for now," Kevin replied, putting his phone away.
"And the sixth person?" Lishia asked.
Although her father had told her to avoid children from Elite Families, she could not completely avoid them.
"It will be my cousin, Ria, mostly," Elena replied as she avoided mentioning Sam's name.
She knew there were issues between the Royal Family of Halcyon and Duke Allister, and having an Allister on her team might make things a bit uncomfortable for her.
"Seems good. I don't mind it," Lishia replied.
'She's smart,' Lishia thought in her head.
Elena had already researched enough about the Halcyon family and how to have Lishia on her side.
***
While all this was happening, Asher was going towards the Great Library.
He had visited this library countless times in his previous life, but most of his visits concerned his research.
But this time, he was going for the special Spell and Runic sections of the Great Library.
Asher entered the vast building with multiple giant pillars at the entrance, and on each of those pillars, the names of scholars from history were present.
