Classes were about to return, and the students had arrived yesterday at noon, a few hours after Enrico, and there was only one hour left before class started. The students and companions were excitedly talking about Astrong Academy not eliminating any more classes this year, but if no progress was seen, only the student would be expelled.
"Now we have more chances of having a better life."
"Don't be an idiot, you'll still be expelled if you don't improve."
"But now we have more chances and time to improve, so if we work hard, we can go far."
Those most excited by this news were the commoners from lower classes who had managed to stay until now. We can say that some nobles weren't very happy about this, but they couldn't do anything since it was the director's own order.
"I think this must be good. You must be happy for all the commoners, right? Kai, Valença."
"Yes, I'm quite happy about this, especially since there might be interesting students to fight."
"I think the same. Among them there must be hidden potential, so it's good."
Liam, who had reunited with Kai and Valença, had asked the question. It had been a month since he last met them, so he wanted to strike up a conversation with his friends.
"Already wanting to fight, Kai? Since you're so excited, you must have gotten much stronger."
"Yes, I trained a lot, especially after the beach in Vesparello, where I dedicated myself completely. So I'm confident and I hope Enrico accepts my rematch."
"I think you'll lose again."
"Valença, you should be on my side."
Valença's eyes drifted away, trying to find an excuse, but then she had an idea.
"If I fought against Enrico, would you think I could win?"
"No, and to be honest, I think I'd cheer for him."
"Then we have the same thoughts, so you better not judge me."
Kai put his hand on his chin, thinking, and nodded that she was right, calming down. Liam, seeing this, kept a neutral face.
"Aren't you two childhood friends?"
"Yes, and what does that have to do with it?"
The two answered at the same time, which made Liam lower his gaze, thinking Enrico was simply unbelievable for becoming so special to those two.
"Elian, Caelan, looks like the three stooges have reunited after a while."
"Why are you calling yourself a stooge?"
"Enrico, that's not a good nickname for us. A better one would be the three incredible ones."
"Sorry, but the three stooges is something that couldn't be taken away after our first month at Astrong."
They looked at the three discussing something useless. Liam raised his arm to call them, but Kai and Valença had already caught up behind Enrico, seeing how he argued with the others.
"Enrico, this isn't good. You shouldn't call yourself a stooge."
"Hi, Valença, it's good to see you, and I like that nickname. It's perfect for the three of us."
"It's good to see you too. You know, I'd like to invite you—"
"Enrico, let's have a rematch."
Liam saw Valença wanting to kill Kai and soon saw Grakka arriving with Sylvia behind him, and then all the other friends. Not wanting to be left behind, he ran to join them. Catching up on everything they had gone through, they had to separate to go to their classes.
"Enrico, wait for us because we're going to join Class S too."
"I'll be waiting."
Saying goodbye to Liam and the others, Enrico was accompanied by Valença, Kai, and Grakka to Class S. On the way, they met Aoi, who tried to grab Enrico but was stopped by Valença, who grabbed her by the clothes with one hand.
"Darling, I missed you. My mother even asked a lot of questions and wants to meet you in person."
"Of course, that could be interesting."
"Enrico, if you're going to meet her family, you have to meet mine too."
Valença's eyes were cold, so Enrico nodded without haste, which made her smile and release Aoi, who managed to hug him.
"Darling, you're the best."
"Don't you think you're too close to my subordinate?"
Appearing behind her, Serenya was already looking irritated, while Aoi didn't seem to care or even notice that she had arrived, which made Serenya force a smile.
"Looks like he's going to meet your parents, isn't he? Well, you're late because he's already met my mother, and she already liked him."
"Tsk, you're just lucky she's our teacher."
"That's right, don't be too arrogant."
Seeing that this discussion wouldn't end, he decided to see where Rina and Yumeha were, and soon, in the row above, both were looking at him, worried. Already knowing why, he walked over to them while being followed by Kai, who had joined that argument in some way, saying it would be good for him to meet his friend's parents. Rina and Yumeha handed him a written letter.
'Master, I didn't want to interrupt you, so I waited. And about Rina being here, it's because she was with me at the time.'
'That's right, it's not her fault. And if you hadn't sent a message through Miss Angela, we would have kept running until we reached you.'
Enrico did the same, sitting beside them and handing over his paper.
'Sorry for worrying you. I'll explain immediately after we're alone.'
What he was talking about was his third circle sacrifice. Yumeha must have felt it and gotten worried right away, since, from what she knew, this didn't happen unless someone had done it to curse him.
"Good morning, students. Be quiet."
Virelle entered, and immediately the students around stopped talking, paying attention. Virelle waved at Enrico and went to the board to start the class.
'This was only the first day, and it was already a mess. But then again, they're excited to see each other again, so it's not bad.'
With a small smile, Enrico paid attention to the class, and from time to time looked at Alenya, whom he wanted as an opponent, but also at rank 5, Klaus Vigente. Today, he would defeat those two and become rank 5 because he wanted to participate in the eliminations for the war between academies.