In Tsuyokuni, at a hot spring inn, the entire Class S arrived, unloading their bags from the carriage. The girls went one way, and the boys went the other, each excited to enter.
"This will be my first time here."
"Really, Kai? You've probably never been to one since you're a commoner."
"I feel like that was a bit harsh, Giulio."
Scratching his head and laughing, Giulio apologized before walking ahead, while behind them, the "three fools" talked about new spells — with Enrico explaining a new magic to Elian and an improvement for Caelan.
"If you make your barrier spin constantly using your magic, it can deflect low-level attacks and reduce the power of stronger magical attacks. It can still be broken by very strong ones, but it'll help weaken them."
"That sounds really hard to do, especially since I'm not one for studying."
"One tip I can give is: try to understand how whirlwinds move, and create a magic core inside the barrier that works like one. Then connect that core to the barrier. In the future, if you improve it, you might not even need to make the core separately."
"That's amazing... damn, this is the first time in my life I actually want to study something."
Beside him, Elian created a wind eagle, trying to figure out the magic Enrico had explained to him.
'Create a core like that of a Nartheis inside the eagle, and then make a creature that obeys me while it's summoned.'
He was literally trying to create a new type of creature, something like a magic spirit but without their divine power. He didn't know why Enrico believed he could do it, but if Enrico thought he could, he'd try.
"Alright, everyone, put your things away. You'll only have the hot springs for today, so return by eight in the evening so we can head back to the academy."
They had been brought by Zenaria and Professor Jonas, who had replaced the previous knight. For some reason, that one had disappeared, and since they were still investigating, a temporary professor had been hired. Each teacher supervised a different group, so Zenaria was with the girls.
"Professor Jonas, can't we stay a bit longer?"
"That's not possible right now. Zenaria and I are helping with the investigation of your former professor, so we need to return before the day ends."
Everyone looked a bit down — except for the new students like Elian, Caelan, and Liam, who hadn't known him well.
"Don't worry, since the professors are helping, we'll try to find him as soon as possible."
"Yes, you're right, sir! Let's go, everyone, we have hot springs waiting!"
While everyone was excited, Enrico sighed. To be honest, for some reason, he felt uneasy around that professor and couldn't feel attached to him.
'Why do I feel so emotionless toward that guy?'
[Because you don't have any.]
'And you seem to have plenty, apparently.'
She ended up entering her room while the rest of the boys had already gone ahead, with Liam leading the group. Entering the hot spring, she jumped right in.
"Damn, that's hot!"
"Who told you to jump in, idiot? A hot spring is meant for relaxing, not fooling around."
"Right, Elian — your country has something like this, doesn't it?"
Puffing his chest proudly, Elian walked in confidently and entered the hot spring calmly. Seeing him enter so gracefully, the boys found it oddly beautiful — especially since he had such a feminine appearance.
"Tsk, it's a shame he's a boy."
"That's life's biggest tragedy."
"Hey! Stop talking about me like that!"
The boys turned away, heading to their own corners, while in another section, only Elian, Liam, and Caelan waited for Enrico and Kai.
"You guys are really energetic, huh?"
"You."
Liam's face turned serious when he saw Lan, Jorge, and Grark a short distance away. Among the students who had recently moved up, Lan and Jorge were two of them.
"Relax, we're not here to fight."
"Thalen, you're still on their side, you traitor."
"Calm down, people. I'm just trying not to start a fight in a situation where we're supposed to be relaxing."
Thalen stood between them, mainly because he realized a brawl might break out if no one mediated.
"Please, Thalen — why would I start a fight with a boy who's so small down there?"
Elian's mind seemed to explode with rage. His pride had been attacked, and he wasn't about to let that slide, so he smiled cruelly.
"You talk too much for someone so pathetic. I'm sure you said that because that's how you feel about yourself."
"What? You—! Do you think you sound smart saying that?"
"Why are the two small humans arguing about this?"
"He's not small, it's just cold."
Liam only glanced at both Elian and Lan, who had spoken at the same time, and just thought the whole thing was stupid — they were in a hot spring, not cold water.
"Why are those two arguing?"
Kai arrived beside them completely naked and shameless, and everyone stared at him and sighed — for the first time in Kai's life, he felt insulted.
'Why do I suddenly feel like killing them all?'
Seeing that it had turned into a contest of who had the best body, Grark stood up and struck a pose, flexing his muscles so ridiculously that Liam nearly spat out water from laughing.
"Some of you humans may have good bodies from training, but you'll never reach the level of an orc."
"You talk too much for a stupid orc."
"Yeah, shut up, no one called you."
Elian and Lan stood up, ready to start fighting each other. Thalen wanted to calm them down, but everyone's nerves were on edge. The two groups already had a rivalry, so anything could start a fight.
'Damn it, I thought I could calm them down, but they're all insane. Where's Enrico? I'm sure he could stop them.'
Each of them was already channeling their magic, and Grark kept posing while Liam's stomach hurt from laughing so much. The moment only stopped when Grark froze, staring behind them, and fell backward as if his pride had been shattered.
"Grark, what happened?"
"A monster..."
"Monster? Please, you're two meters tall — how can you be afraid of a monster?"
Pointing behind them with a trembling finger, they turned their heads and saw Enrico, who had a confused expression about the commotion. Enrico's body was without a doubt the most well-defined in that place, but what truly made everyone collapse to the ground crying was something else.
"What happened?"
"Why don't you just die, Enrico?"
"Wait, what do you mean, die?"
"He's smart, strong, even handsome — and now this? This world's unfair. Just die!"
While their words only confused Enrico more, Elian's mind seemed to explode as he imagined an elephant — his soul practically leaving his body as he fell to the ground.