Seraphina slowly looked across the room.

"Mana is not some magical toy you throw around because you were born lucky with so much stored inside you... or just because it looks pretty."

No one dared interrupt her.

"It is the difference between surviving and dying in this world."

A small blue flame suddenly appeared above her fingertips, and the room’s temperature instantly rose.

Several students immediately stiffened from the pressure alone. Ren almost lost balance beside Cassien.

"T-that’s just from a tiny flame...?"

Cassien quietly observed the mana itself. How it was compressed and controlled, and the danger it posed.

’Interesting... her control is absurd. The novel did mention that here and there after all.’

The flame vanished. Seraphina crossed her arms.

"Garbage. Most of you are garbage at mana control."

The class immediately looked offended.

"Some of you can barely circulate mana properly. Others force it too aggressively and damage your own pathways." Her silver eyes narrowed slightly. "Very few of you know how to use it even at a beginner level."

Cassien smiled faintly.

’She’s sharper than I thought.’

Seraphina walked toward the center of the chamber while the blue markings beneath the floor slowly illuminated brighter.

"Today’s lesson is simple."

She pointed downward.

"Sit."

Everyone immediately obeyed. The glowing circle beneath them activated completely once all the students sat down.

A low humming noise filled the chamber as Ren questioned nervously, "Why does this feel like we’re about to explode?"

"Because some people probably will," Cassien answered casually.

"Close your eyes," Seraphina continued. "Mana exists inside every living being. Your goal is not to create it."

She paused briefly.

"It is to guide it."

Cassien already knew these basics, so almost immediately, he felt the mana flowing throughout the chamber.

Soon, [Mana Threading] activated naturally. Thin blue strands formed around his fingers almost instinctively before fading again.

Seraphina took notice.

"Nice..."

Several students immediately looked toward Cassien.

"Hm?"

"What did he do?"

Cassien glanced toward Ren.

"Relax your breathing. You’re forcing it too much."

...

It worked.

Cassien’s game-system interface popped up mid-test.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[ Mana Threading Lv. 6 → 7 ]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

’Nice... feels good knowing I can use both my first and second periods to improve my stats this drastically.’

A sudden surge of mana exploded from the far left side of the chamber.

Everyone looked over.

Of course, it was Olivia, momentarily stabilizing a glowing silver aura around herself before calmly suppressing it again.

"Oh?"

Even Seraphina raised a brow slightly.

"Sorry, instructor. Too much output, I’ll try again."

"No," Seraphina interrupted immediately, "that was actually impressive."

Whispers spread across the chamber instantly.

"She controlled that already?"

"As expected of Olivia..."

"A monster of beauty."

Cassien almost sighed, hearing the reactions.

’Pretty privilege in this world is real... these double standards are insane.’

...

After about an hour and thirty minutes of students passing, failing, and completely messing up... most of them managed to learn at least one adaptive skill they would carry into future classes.

Once the bell rang, everyone immediately left and moved toward lunch.

Cassien walked with Ren into the cafeteria.

...

After a little while, both of them grabbed food on large trays before sitting at an empty table.

"Well, well..."

Aiysha walked over with her own tray before taking a seat beside Cassien.

"If it isn’t the oh-so-great Cassien Artfold in the flesh."

"Ms. Moon, please don’t praise me with such glorification... it might make me feel human again."

"What?" Ren questioned.

Both of them looked at him and laughed.

"Anyways," Cassien continued, "how are your classes so far? You’re in Class 1B, right?"

Aiysha nodded.

"Nothing special. But those arrogant Class 1A students think they’re something amazing..." she twisted the plastic fork in her fingers, "I could break their necks if I wanted to."

’Oh yeah... Class 1A.’

Cassien leaned back slightly.

’They have a lot of interesting characters there. No way in hell at least one of them isn’t a transmigrator.’

The cafeteria suddenly fell silent.

Every first-year student inside stopped what they were doing.

Step. Step. Step.

’And here come the Class 1A goons...’

A group of students walked into the cafeteria with immaculate posture.

They looked fresh. Untouchable.

Everything about them screamed superiority.

One man with glasses, pale skin, messy black hair, and dark eyes scanned the cafeteria before noticing Aiysha’s table.

He casually walked over before tapping her shoulder.

"What is it?" she asked coldly.

"Ms. Moon, correct?" he asked with a smirk. "The pleasure is all mine. Name’s Cid Forge. First-rate noble. Nice to meet you."

Aiysha stared at him carefully while examining the people around him.

"Oh my gosh, he’s even hotter than people say..."

"Seriously... he really is."

"I want him so bad..."

Aiysha ignored all the whispers.

"What exactly do you want from me?"

Cid laughed softly.

"Oh? So you’re even sharper than the rumors say."

He leaned slightly closer.

"Well... I have an offer."

Cid bent down slightly, resting an arm against the table.

"Join me."

His eyes slowly scanned the table before landing on Ren.

The faintest look of disgust crossed his face before disappearing instantly.

"Join me and become a student of our prestigious class..."

The cafeteria somehow became even quieter.

"Class 1A."

Whispers of jealousy immediately spread throughout the room.

Still, nobody could deny Aiysha was talented enough to qualify eventually.

"No," Aiysha answered immediately. "I’ll climb the rankings myself. I don’t need the spoiled advantages your family hands you."

Cid didn’t get irritated.

If anything, his smile widened slightly.

Cassien quietly moved his fingers beneath the table behind Aiysha.

A small signal.

For someone.

"I’ll even let you become class representative," Cid offered again. "Please... join me."

He clearly wasn’t used to hearing no.

"I said no," Aiysha replied coldly. "Leave me alone."

One of the girls beside Cid stepped forward.

"Want me to handle this bitch for you? She thinks she’s special just because she’s slightly pretty."

Slap!

No—

It was blocked.

By none other than him.

"You’re finally here," Cassien whispered.

"..."

Just as the girl tried to slap Aiysha, Cid caught her hand and went to slap that random girl instead.

But suddenly, a teenage boy caught both Cid and the women’s wrists mid-swing.

Then let go of Cid’s wrist and tossed a glove directly into that guy’s face.

Smack.

The cafeteria froze.

The boy smiled casually.

"Name’s Theodore," he said calmly. "Nice to meet you."