The next day Christopher seems distressed. Chance watches over him with a worried glance. Between training, Xiao sees him manically digging through sheets and other belongings. Silently scouring for something. At lunch, Yuto sits next to Xiao. He watches over Christopher with an interest Xiao finds disgusting. "What do you think Mr. mysterious is looking for?" Yuto ponders, a spoon half in his mouth. "Who cares, that's his business," she snaps. Her patience waning towards Yuto.

He eyes her warily, "you don't find anything odd about this? Look at him, then look at everyone else around here." Xiao scans Christopher. It had been clear to Xiao from the start that Christopher was of another race. But more than that, Christopher's decorations were particular. Military uniform contrasts intricate light green runes forever marked on his skin. Cupping his wrists, they spray in all directions and swirl around each other. Woven chokers lay elegantly on his collarbone. The braids that decorate his hair remind Xiao of the braids Gwendal wore. Xiao had never asked Gwendal about them as, if she had, she would have never received a straight answer. Gwendal was shut off in that way.

"He's of a tribe. If he's here there must be some special circumstance Dunder and Christopher are hiding. Agreements between the government and tribes never mean good news."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the government has a penchant for killing people like him"

The air goes stale. Xiao doesn't ask any more questions she doesn't want to know the answers to.

The day, off to an already rocky start, continues to get considerably worse. Every member of the squad ache's in pain from Dunder's training. Even Xiao, who had a strict training regimen before coming to the academy was in rough shape. Yesterday's failed training had solidified Dunder's determination to get his students in shape. Alternatively, this was a punishment. Xiao wasn't sure which option she preferred to believe.

"Alright, let's take a break"

"Ah, finally," Chance screams. He opens a flask and pours the entire contents into his face, drenching his fiery red hair.

"we will now be learning the basics of mana theory." Sighs sound around the group in unison. "I don't think he knows what a break is," Chance whispers loudly to Christopher.

"First, who knows this already?" Nel, Chance, and Yuto raise their hands.

Xiao finds it hard to believe Christopher could have managed to have such a genius grasp of vine manipulation without teaching. Unknowingly being hypocritical towards her own prowess in mana control. "Alright, scrap everything because it's probably wrong. Noble teachers are idiots," Dunder declares, leaving the group speechless. He moves on nonchalantly without addressing his bold statement.

"First, we'll start with all of the known affinities. Wind, fire, earth, and water tend to be the most taught but various rarer affinities are waiting to be tapped into. Christopher's affinity to nature mana is a prime example. If I were to name some other less common ones…. Hm. Well, there's lightning, ice, various other shoots off of the main elements. Healing mana takes a certain kind of student with an aptitude for learning and plenty of patience."

"Healing and light mana tend to be quite taxing to learn and their knowledge is generally contained by the church or the tribes. Dark mana is the element the demonic nation uses, darkness mana will naturally never be available to be taught." Yuto raises his brows, in a typical know-it-all sarcastic expression. Having discrepancies with the last statement.

"If you have a certain connection to an element you will be able to experiment with it in due time. Any knowledge you need can either be taught by me or another instructor. If anything happens to be outside of our expertise, breaks on missions can be used to gather books in various cities all across Zalisthia."

"When will we start missions?" Xiao asks.

"Class F Missions will start once I deem this team fit for battle. Your success in missions will be used to class our team in preparation for future battles against the demon nation. As for why you've all turned into errand boys- For now, this training academy is used for internal disputes within Zelisthia; The country is quite short on men at the moment, think of it as your repayment for the food and supplies you're receiving here."

"Remember that this is also a test. How well you do here could very well determine your future." Dunder notices the students beginning to enter a daze. "Speaking of tests, you all will have the next month to display your prowess, whoever doesn't make the cut will be expelled."

"What?" The students shout in unison.