After seeing off Saturn and his group, we headed over to the new Class-1 classroom.
Stepping inside, I found that almost all our guild mbers have already gathered.
"Good morning, everyone! Looking forward to a great term with you all!"
A cheerful greeting was just common courtesy, after all. Instantly, I feel the eyes of everyone in the room zero in on .
"Took you long enough! You're late! And good morning, Zephyr."
Lana was the first to respond. Rather, I sotis felt it'd basically beco an unspoken rule that she'd always be the first to return my greetings, and it continued to be even in our new class.
"Good morning, Zephyr. Looks like we're in the sa class again. I look forward to it."
Sierra chis in next. I could tell from the subtle warmth in her voice that she’s genuinely glad we ended up together. And the feeling was mutual—I was just as thrilled to share a class with her again.
"Sa here, Sierra. Glad to be with you again."
I added to my reply.
After that, a chorus of greetings washed over , mostly from the original Class 1 students, and I returned them one by one.
Well, thanks to guild mbers rushing over to say their greeting, I had yet to completely step inside the class. But that suddenly ca to a stop (?) when a hulking wall of muscles lood up behind us.
Since my guildmates make a point of rushing over to say hi, I end up stuck right at the doorway.
However, this little roadblock cos to an abrupt end when a hulking wall of muscle looms up behind us.
"Listen to , Leader Celestin, and Grandmaster Zephyr. I've been separated from my fellow muscles!"
The one delivering this tragic news with a surprisingly mournful expression was Alan, the only mid-ranking Job holder in Class 1. Honestly, I was still blown away that he actually made the cut.
No, hold on a minute. What the heck was Grandmaster?
"Morning, Alan. But seriously, what's with the 'Grandmaster'?"
"Well, you're the lord our esteed Leader, Celestin, serves. It only stands to reason that you be called the Grandmaster, does it not?"
Stands to reason? Like hell it does.
I had no idea how his brain made that leap. ......Whatever, I'd let it slide. It did sound pretty cool, anyway.
"Good morning, Alan."
"Morning, Celestin. I know it's still early, but listen to ! The muscles... the muscles have...!"
And just like that, Alan locks onto Celestin.
Those two have been friends ever since the Inter-Class competition. Sadly, the other four machos didn't make it to the Class 1, which was clearly breaking Alan's heart.
As a side note, just the other day, Alan's old guild, Machos, was dissolved—or rather, absorbed into the «All Hail the Muscles!». They'd successfully and officially beco a B-Rank guild. And now, we had the ergence of a guild entirely composed of beefy machos. Ugh, just the thought gave shudder.
Still, the mbers themselves seed to be having the ti of their lives, so nobody had the heart to tell them otherwise. Well, I also heard their guild room was so sweltering with body heat that no one dared go near it.
Leaving Celestin to deal with Alan, I brought Tomoyo over to the girls in our guild to introduce her and ask them to show her the ropes.
Just as I'm doing that, another of the guys calls out to .
"Zephyr."
"Oh, rt... Uh, what exactly am I looking at here?"
"Are ya the guildmaster for rt-han and Misato-han?"
Turning toward the unfamiliar voice, I see a fox-kin girl. For so inexplicable reason, she had rt's left arm, and Misato's right arm, wrapped in a tight hug.
It was as if I was staring at the best friend forever kinda group scene. ...Hmm, maybe that's how 'Flowers in both hands' idiom ca to be, eh? Well, one of them, rt, wasn't exactly the flower.
They look like the best of friends. Talk about having a flower in each hand... well, except one of them is lt.
"Zephyr-kun, please, you have to do sothing! This girl, Haku, refuses to let go of rt-sama! Tell her off! And you, let go of my arm already!"
Wow, Misato was snapping with an uncharacteristic deep voice. I could practically see the dark aura radiating off her.
"Aww, you don't have to be so cold, Misato-han! And here I am, lovin' you and rt-han to pieces!"
"Wait, you're way too close! Quit nuzzling my rabbit ears! Let gooo of !"
Haku pulled Misato's arm even closer, practically gluing herself to her. Misato's ears were twitch frantically in protest, but Haku remained unstoppable with her aggressive cuddling . Even so, it didn't seem like they actually hated each other... I think.
"Haa..."
"Looks like you've got your hands full, rt."
"I figured this was your first ti eting her. To formally introduce her, this is Haku. She is the one with the «Hundred Fla Fox» Job and is easily one of the strongest freshn in the academy."
"Oho! So she is the famous «Hundred Fla» you barely managed to beat!"
"Ever since that match, she's been clinging to us like this."
"Hey, maybe she just wants to be friends? Forging a bond through the clash of magic is a classic trope, right?"
Taking a closer look at Haku, she's practically radiating a massive "endearing" aura toward both of them.
It was sothing I ca to know later. It appeared Haku had a huge soft spot for fellow mages who proved stronger than her. And in the competition, rt and Misato had pushed her to the absolute brink.
Well, making friends was never a bad thing.
The next person to approach was Reglam, though he had three other boys in tow.
"Good morning, Zephyr."
"Reglam! Glad we made it into the sa class."
"Likewise. I look forward to working with you. Oh, and I figured I should introduce you to the rest of the male minority here."
"That'd be a lifesaver, thanks."
Indeed. The already minority of the Class-1, the boys population, had taken another hit in this reshuffle.
The male population in the newly ford Class 1 has plumted even further.
Despite how they'd acted, Saturn's group and the machos were a precious commodity as far as gender ratios were concerned, but even they've all been completely swept away, save for Alan. We lost eight guys in one fell swoop.
In their place, we welcod five new replacents—rt, Reglam, Lamda, Sedan, and Kiel.
Counting , Celestin, and Alan, that made us a grand total of eight guys in the entire class.
Male solidarity was an absolute necessity right now.
"Morning, Zephyr. I heard how you were caught up in another chaotic situation after the competition."
"Indeed a good morning, Lamda. Co to think of it, we haven't seen each other since the eting at the Interdiate-high Dungeon, huh? I'm stoked we're in the sa class."
I exchanged a firm handshake with him. He was the holder of both an enviable high-ranking job and the prowess to display. It was a no-brainer he would be in Class-1.
"I believe this is our first ti actually speaking face-to-face. I'm Sedan. As fellow classmates, I hope we get along."
"Yeah, things were a bit too hectic during the competition. I'm Zephyr, and I hope the sa."
I shook Sedan's hand next. Even though he was the leader of the forr Class-2 and suffered an elimination in the first match—technically placing dead last—his sheer individual prowess earned him a spot in Class 1. Getting singled out during the awards ceremony probably played a huge role in that, too. I was genuinely delighted to have him as a classmate.
"My na is Keel. I got knocked out pretty early in the finals, so this is essentially our first eting. It's a pleasure."
"Pleasure's all mine. Do you mind if I just call you Keel? Feel free to call Zephyr."
"Then I shall call you Zephyr-kun."
The final handshake went to Keel, a guy sporting thick, swirly-lensed glasses.
Ah, I know these glasses... Those are the «Glasses of Beguilent»! They boost the proc rate of several debuffs. In fashion, they'd utter crap design, but, they're actually a super rare drop.
Back in the ga, a lot of players wore the swirly glasses just for the . Girls also had these, though in their case, they would almost always have re-designed fras through the «Modify Design» option. I, of course, did both depending on my mood.
To refresh mory, Keel was the reaper who got taken out by Reglam during the competition. It appears they, too, sparked a friendship in the battle.
Well, with that, I'd officially done the rounds with all the guys. I was looking forward to friendship with fellow boys.
I really hope we can all beco good friends.
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