Class Awakening: Working Hard Can Evolve My Classes

After the announcement of the class exams, students of Herta Academy of Rankers walked around campus with varying expressions. Some worried, some were excited, while a few were neutral. The academy buzzed with noise, as though filled with summer cicadas.

Zeke woke up early and was already seated in his classroom. His eyes stared at the colorless pane beside him, seemingly lost in another reality. Yesterday still felt like a blur to him.

After exploring his new abilities, he calmed down and grounded himself in reality. It was true that he did get stronger, but it was still far from enough... especially if he wanted to take revenge against the Starlights.

The most important thing out of everything he gained was the confirmation of the class evolution. This showed that as long as he worked hard, he could get as strong sooner or later.

When other people trained, their results were uncertain, and their progress could be sporadic. But for him, it was linear. The results were immediate, and his progress was equal to his effort.

Zeke understood that this was his biggest advantage. As long as he didn’t die early, he could even reach that legendary rank, or maybe step foot beyond that. But immediately after this thought came, he immediately grounded himself in reality.

’Let’s not get ahead of ourselves...’

He mused inwardly. The poison of success was arrogance.

"Morning, Zeke."

A drowsy voice came from his left.

Andrei put down his stuff and sat down, yawning loudly. His eyes looked tired, as if he hadn’t gotten much sleep.

Zeke glanced at him and gave a slight nod.

"I was reading the latest Chapter of a book last night..." Andrei explained in a tired voice. "It was so exciting that when I finished the Chapter, it was already 4:00 AM. I forgot that it was Monday..."

Zeke raised a brow. "You read books?"

That was surprising. Andrei looked like someone who didn’t have the patience to even read longer than five pages.

"Hey, hey, why do I think you’re thinking something rude about me..." Andrei noticed his expression and couldn’t help but complain. "Tch. Just so you know, I’m a literary person. I love reading books!"

Zeke stared at him for a moment and then nodded, continuing to look at the mirror.

People who usually called themselves a literary person were weirdos, granted, he only knew Leon from the Solace Bar.

"What is this feeling of being judged..."

Andrei muttered weakly, slumping on his desk.

"I’m going to sleep. Don’t wake me up."

"Are you sure?"

Zeke asked in a strange tone.

"Yes!" Andrei nodded deeply. "Since we’re friends, you need to learn one thing friends do, Zeke. They help cover for each other in class when they’re sleeping or skipping, that’s the true mark of friendship."

He looked at Zeke solemnly, expecting him to criticize or laugh, but instead Zeke’s face was serious, as if he was really considering it. Andrei couldn’t help but laugh out loud, surprising Zeke.

"Hahaha! What’s with that face..."

Zeke was bewildered.

"Were you really considering it?" Andrei chuckled. "That means you’re a true bro! I wasn’t wrong about you, Zeke."

Zeke paused for a moment, then decided not to clarify. He was thinking about what Professor Xavier would do to a student sleeping in his class. As for covering for Andrei? Impossible.

He didn’t have a death wish.

"Oh yeah, what’s our class today anyway...?"

Andrei asked, yawning loudly.

At that moment, the door opened, revealing a tall, broody figure. Short dark hair, silver platinum eyes, and a sharp gaze that could cause even a monster to freeze in fear. It was none other than Professor Xavier.

"Let’s begin our class."

Andrei froze, trembling quietly. If he really did sleep, then he could consider his peaceful life in the academy to be over... he looked at Zeke again, his eyes shining with newfound respect.

’He was considering covering for me even if it was Professor Xavier? This is...’ 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

’A pity. I wanted to see if that rumor about Professor Xavier was true...’

Zeke turned his gaze to the front. He heard a rumor that a student who once slept in Professor Xavier’s class was invited to his office. After getting out of the office, the student wasn’t the same ever since.

The rumor said that the student was treated as target practice by Professor Xavier.

***

Killing Techniques was as gruesome as ever, but Zeke couldn’t deny the practical value of the subject. Now he finally understood why Professor Xavier was known as The Steel Reaper.

The contents of the lesson today were simpler than the last time, so he could follow along without a problem. After the bell rang, Professor Xavier left the room quietly, and the others also started to leave.

"Let’s go eat. I’m kinda starving for some meat today..."

Zeke glanced at Andrei for a moment, then asked. "Can you follow me to the training facility after?"

"Huh?"

Andrei was startled, looking at Zeke with surprise.

"I don’t mind... but why?"

Zeke replied calmly. "I want to spar with someone, and you’re the only one I know."

Andrei’s eyes lit up.

"Deal!"

Zeke was surprised. Why was he more excited than him? He was the one planning to test out his new skills.

He thought for a moment, then raised a brow.

"I thought you would reject."

Andrei shook his head, clicking his tongue. "Why would I? I haven’t had a sparring partner my age recently... It’s all been greasy old men lately. Let me tell you, not only are they shameless, but they’re also wicked."

Zeke didn’t understand what he was saying and stood up.

"Greasy old men?"

He raised a brow, curious.

"Yeah," Andrei complained. "A bunch of ugly, wicked bastards! If you sparred with one of them, I’m sure you would understand. Aish, they’re terrible..."

Zeke shrugged, but that did make him recall some memories. A friend of his mother was a frequent sparring partner of his back then—of course, it wasn’t a serious spar since he hadn’t even awakened a class at that time.

It was mainly about combat fundamentals.

But thinking back, that greasy old man was indeed... a wicked bastard. Zeke could clearly recall that the greasy old man kept flicking his forehead whenever he got close, blowing him away to a distance to start all over again, reasoning that his footwork was wrong.

Regardless if his footwork was wrong or not, being flicked in the forehead was painful.

’... Wicked bastard. I hope I don’t see him again.’

He nodded deeply, empathizing with Andrei.