"Emmmaaaaaaa", Hani whines, eyes watering, "Did I do something wrong?" She did not know what to make of the situation.
"Let her be; she probably had to return to her stuck-up father. I doubt he is happy for her to leave their family dinner for a long time." She reassured her, not wanting just to tell her what she did wrong.
After a big, hearty meal, many leftovers were being packed up to be taken home. The waiters came back with extra food to take away.
"Thank you, Emma!" Hani hugged Emma. "I will take this as a repayment for not telling me that your family owns this place." Acting benevolently, she snatched the bags, getting ready to leave.
"See you tomorrow, Hani." Having a very fruitful day, Emma waves goodbye to Hani.
Going back home, Hani completes her daily routine and gets into bed.
---
Back at school, Hani's days go by normally for the most part, and she stays diligent with her routine. She spent part of her time reading, another part hanging out with Emma, but now with the addition of Stella joining in once in a while.
This did not please Leo, but he could not act out in front of Stella, as he had a facade to keep up as well, not that the bullying affected Hani much. She was too obsessed with swooning over Stella.
Keeping in line with her routine, Hani saw her intelligence increase daily. With Emma's help, she also solidified the mastery of her magic weapon. While still not as good as Emma, she was able to at least fight her with a handicap, keeping up at an average level, but still not win.
All while doing this, she was also busy working the weekends in the cafe, and since Ivory was busy, Hani did not see much of her either. Emma, on the other hand, was handmaking every part of her cosplay costume with her friends on days when she was not helping Hani. While Emma was a diligent person who trained a lot, she was the same with her comics, a diligent reader, and as a diligent reader, she and her friends made it a mission that the costumes for their class event were perfect.
Nearly a month in, all the final preparations for the school festival are being made. One of them was the pre-signup for their class's tournament. With limited spots, multiple people line up for it. Thankfully, their class got first pick for the spots, with the only requirement being that you should be able to break the first layer of a training core.
---
[Training Core]
This item is a man-made invention imbued with shield magic similar to the ones found in the training room. It contains 3 layers of shields.
Instead, this ball will protect itself. The purpose of this item is to train attack magic. When you reach a higher level of proficiency, you can break defences. While multiple ways to break it, including Magic, Strength, Weapons or abilities, it can only be broken with skill.
It hovers when active and regenerates its shield. But after breaking all three layers, it will deactivate and fall.
---
Everyone hurried towards the training room to sign up for the tournament. The line was full, and everyone had to succeed to even put their name down on the list. Everyone wanted to win because a chance to be close to Stella was like a lottery. If you manage to befriend her, you will befriend not only an S-rank healer but also the Powell family, one of the most influential families around. More than half of them failed, leaving only 3 people who had passed.
Leo is the first one to pass, an A-rank warrior who broke through 2 layers. The second to pass was an A-rank Mage, Rowan Merrick. Finally, the 3rd one was Lily Varmae, a B-rank warrior from a blacksmith family, being one herself. Both broke through 1 layer. Leo grinned smugly at this, asserting his dominance over everyone.
Just as everyone thought that everyone from Class 1-C had tried out, Hani walked to the sign-up table.
"I would like to sign up, please." She said, casually raising her hand.
Everyone in her class looked at her, shocked. Most people outside her class did not know that Hani was the only F-rank in the whole school. It was kept under wraps properly by the staff, since even though her rank may be F, in this world, being smart can also be a skill in other ways. But it was a Hero school to take one in was rare, so most did not know there was one.
Even Leo made sure to keep his 'bullying' within the class. He never went physical due to the fact that he still has a particular image to hold up. Being an F-rank, Hani was not worth the energy for such a treatment.
The guy at the desk looked at Hani with a face of disgust. "Keep moving, you won't even be able to pass the test." He pushed her aside using his ability, causing her to fall on the floor.
What a weakling. He had sneakily used his ability to put power into it, causing the fall.
Hani gave him a death glare, lifting herself up. Everyone was watching her. "I said I want to sign up." She watched him as he did nothing, ignoring her, "Well, you guys do realise just because class 1-C regards me as trash, the school board does not. To them, I am someone useful enough that they provided me with a place and a scholarship. So let's not get the teachers involved in this matter, huh?" Hani decided calmly that a threat was the only way to resolve this.
The man gritted his teeth, and everyone just watched the drama unfold. Hani stepped into the area for testing.
You have done this multiple times, Hani, just like Emma taught you. You know you are stronger, so let's do it.
Hani reassures herself. She takes out a dagger as she prepares to attack. Grabbing the dagger in front of her, stance ready in one swift motion, she slashes.
The magic blade, executed perfectly with immense force, easily cuts through the first layer. But it's not over, the second layer follows. As it reached the 3rd, it was strong enough to crack but not break it overall. There is silence as the crack slowly regenerates.
An F-rank cracked two layers! This was the thought of every single person in here in 1-C. She had managed to not only break 2 layers like Leo but also create a crack on the third layer, which he could not do.
How the hell did that F-rank do that... There must be something wrong. Maybe she used an enhanced weapon.
Leo, who was also watching the commotion unfold silently, could not accept that an F-ranker was able to not only break the same number of layers as him but also surpass him, an A-ranker and dent the third layer. She has got to be cheating somehow.
He walks up towards where Hani is, who is standing there, with a grin on her face, relieved that she was able to pass. While Hani knew she had grown stronger, she was still nervous about the whole thing. Before she even had the chance to celebrate, Leo was beside her.
"I cannot accept this entry," Leo says out loud so everyone can hear. "As many of you may not know, this girl, Hani, is the legendary F-ranker in our school. So, how is it possible that she is able to break not only one but two barriers? While not an official exam, it saddens me, fellow students, that a scholarship student is cheating!"
Leo was making his point to everyone that Hani is a cheater. Such an accusation could lead to her scholarship revocation and expulsion if true. Smug, he looks towards Hani with a devious grin.
Hani watched Leo, confused. "What makes you think I cheated? Everyone says I destroy them myself..." Hani fought back, gripping her hands into a fist, nails digging into her palm. What the hell is his problem? Can't I have a single day of peace?
"You are an F-rank. The only way you would have done this is if you had help. Obviously, you got an enhanced weapon or something." Leo smirked, absolutely confident that he was right about this situation.
"Huh?" Hani furrowed her brows, taken aback, "You think I can afford something like that?" she points at herself, dumbfounded by the whole situation.
"Maybe not you, but Emma Wang can. Aren't you two buddies?"
Hani did not realise, but she was quite popular for being close to Emma, someone who does not easily make friends. Emma did a lot of things to protect Hani... (But that's a story to explore another time!)
Hani stood with her group, lifting her hand and displaying the dagger to everyone. "This is a school-issued dagger. As you can all see, it has the logo. Also, you can check the records with the admin. How can they be enhanced weapons?" With a huff and an arm on her waist, she waved the dagger for everyone to see. What a joke.
Leo was flustered by this situation. Dammit, why didn't I check that before? There must be something else!
"You could have used a spell core!" was blurted out, grasping for straws in the sea of people who are starting to murmur for and against Hani.
---
Spell Core - A one-time core that can be used to release a spell. Each core has a spell stored in it. Just infuse a bit of magic into it to activate it! Affordable at 1000, being the cheapest price!
---
"Seriously? What other reasons are you gonna bring up now?" Annoyed by the situation, Hani pressed her finger into her brows, trying to relieve the tension.
It's ok, Hani, calm down... You can't beat up classmates, especially when they are stronger than you. Taking deep breaths, Hani attempts to calm herself down. But one punch would not matter right??... RIGHT??... No, Hani, breathe in, breathe out~
"How about this?" She slammed her fist onto her palm with a eureka momnet. Hani came up with the only solution. "Get someone to search me and make sure I do not have a magic core on me. Then either give me a dagger or check the dagger I borrowed from the school, and let me do it again."
Leo had no reason to refuse; he was backed into a corner and could not just force her out with all the eyes on him. But he had decided already that Hani had cheated, and with this, she really will be out, and it would all work in his favour.
"Sure, let's do that," he agreed, grinning from ear to ear.