The Retired Hero is an Extra

The classrooNovelFire gradually filled up, and Elara nervously took the seat closest to Jash and Ziva, her heart racing.

Despite the glaring students, there was a sense of respect for her daring to sit near those two monsters.

However, the two weren't even concerned that everyone sat away from them and the closest was Elara.

Ziva had given up on teasing or buttering up Jash any further and he was lost in his own world.

If he had noticed Elara, he would surely have struck up a conversation, alas, he didn't due to the lack of verbal reaction at her seating.

In essence, the silence caused by his warning about annoying things led to a situation where no one even chatted.

But it was not like anyone would have caused a ruckus as they couldn't be too sure about Elara and her prospective rank.

After all, the Assessment Test hadn't happened yet and her performance in the Entrance Test was no joke.

But did that mean she had given her all?

No one knew as every year, there were students who hid their best from others, saving it for the Assessment Tests.

It was common knowledge as the Academy curriculum didn't change too much regardless of who entered each year, which was a good thing.

Though it allowed students to act the pig to kill the tiger, it was very effective in graduating the best Hunters.

Hence, no one wanted to pick a fight with someone who might turn out to be a Ranker.

As a Ranker was not only a person with the most YP but also the person with the most facilities and resources.

The students from humbled backgrounds understood this way better than those from wealthy backgrounds to not do something stupid.

While the students with such backgrounds might have sought out trouble, no one wanted to disturb the Year Representatives who seemed to have a penchant for silence.

—Tak! Tak!

Finally, the sound of shoes clacking against the smooth marble floor echoed as everyone's attention turned to the door.

Professor Aileen entered without so much as a smile and only stopped to look at the students after arriving at the center.

She surveyed the class, her gaze stopping briefly on Jash, which went unnoticed by the other students.

She calmly set down her stuff and addressed the class.

"Today will be your first class about mana and other related topics. It will only cover basic theory, but if you still have doubts, feel free to ask."

Her firm voice cut through the silence as she had not even bothered with any greetings after confirming the class attendance with her eyes as well as her own bracelet.

Despite her lack of enthusiasm, the students paid attention as the wall before her had a holographic image of a mana core.

It wasn't a real image but an imaginary one as no real image could actually be taken.

"The mana core is where you store and channel your mana from," Aileen began explaining without any reservations.

"Every person's core is different, depending on talent and hard work," she mentioned, changing the image.

Different colored mana cores appeared, ranging from violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red.

"To rank from one major rank to another, you need to refine your mana core until the color of your mana changes."

Her words were simple and easy to understand for everyone and it only served as a revision for those who already learned all of it.

"That's what everyone knows, but do you know why it is so?" Aileen asked, leaving the students a bit confused.

They only knew what they knew and had not really bothered going into too many details about the process of it.

"It's simple. Despite the vast difference in our mana cores, their composition is the same—mana."

Her simple words only served to increase the students' puzzlement as they eyed her confusedly.

"As mana gets refined, its color changes but so does it happen with it becoming denser and the ultimate goal is to have a white mana core."

Suddenly, Aileen's words changed as she realized she had said something far out of the limits of basic theory of mana.

"That's why we absorb mana from the surroundings and use the mana in our core to suck it in, increasing its density and also refining it."

'Is she explaining the method or something?' Jash thought, finding her words simple yet complex.

In essence, she was explaining why ranking up becomes tougher as one grows stronger.

Simply put, one drop of mana from the mana core could be 3X, 5X, 10X, or even more times denser than the atmospheric mana.

Imagine having to refine not one but thousands or even millions of such drops just for a sub-rank.

Extending it to major ranks, and it made sense why the number of Hunters decreased as one went up the ranks.

'Not like our absorption speed stays stuck, though,' Jash mused, entering his own thoughts.

Meanwhile, Aileen continued her explanation, and a few confused students nervously asked for clarification hesitantly.

At first, they were too afraid to ask due to Aileen's stern and cold look, but as they listened to her speak, they realized she was quite calm. Experience adventures on m _v _lempy _r.

Though no one could call her friendly, she did answer all the questions even if they were repetitive.

Somehow, she knew who had an actual question and who was just asking her to repeat for the sake of it.

All it took was just one glare for her to shut up such students, though.

The class lasted for an hour, during which Aileen also explained what to look for while condensing the core during the rank up procedure and other basic things.

Naturally, Jash and Ziva already knew all that, and it was the same for all the privileged students as well.

"Well, that's all for today. Since there's no other classes, I suggest you go to the library and read more about mana theory,"

"Also, take this time to learn about other subjects and report your subject choices," Aileen added, wanting to put it in their head.

Done with everything for the day, she took her stuff and turned to leave the class before stopping.

"Starting tomorrow, your joint classes will begin, so try to expand your knowledge before then," she advised before leaving.

As soon as Aileen left, the students relaxed, thinking back to her lecture and about choosing their subjects.

Yet nothing more than whispers remained in the classroom until Ziva and Jash stood up and left.

After which, the students excitedly talked about the various subjects and what they would be choosing.

Some tried to convince others that their choice was better and whatnot while others looked for students with similar choices to group up.

It was always better to know others than to be alone when there were too many geniuses in their batch.

No one liked getting bullied, and if being friends was all it took to prevent that fate, who would deny such an easy method?

Meanwhile, the two most feared in their class for no absolute reason were busy making their way to the exchange sector.

'I could only delay this meeting by one day, huh?' Jash sighed and sneaked a glance at Ziva, only to be left speechless.

She appeared to be unaffected by the upcoming meeting as if it had nothing to do with her, which made no sense to Jash!

Just how could she appear so carefree when even Jash wasn't?