Approximately 2 months had passed, yet there were no further attacks. Arashi began to fear the worst, but that was not the only thing that made it bad. The boys unwillingly began to lose motivation for their training. Even if they were still progressing, the rate had decreased.

In contrast, the three were still living up to their fame in school. The "Prodigy Transfer Students" were a common topic in everyday conversation. For example, the third monthly test: the test for team play.

This was the test where the students were introduced to the second type of classification system: the Class System. Similar to the Star System, this was also applied to both people and techniques in their own way. Although compared to the Star System, this was a bit more complicated.

The Class System described what a technique or an individual could 'deal with'. In increasing order, were U, G, M, B, A, F, K and L.

When applied to techniques, it described what the particular technique was meant to have an effect on. Meaning that a U-class technique was made to deal with a single enemy: a unit. Similarly, a G-class technique was meant to deal with a group of people. Generally, higher class techniques are coupled with higher star ranks, but if a technique has a low star rank, it doesn't necessarily mean that it can't have an effect on the intended class. It would simply be non-lethal in that case.

Also, in everyday conversation, there was an unspoken convention that people would say 'X-class' when talking about a technique. But when announcing a technique name, people would normally use the prefix 'anti'.

When applied to people, there were confusions on what it truly meant. At times, assigning a class to a person meant that the person was capable of dealing with that particular type of battle. At other times, it meant that the person was specialized in dealing with that particular class. But fundamentally, they referred to the same thing: that person could deal with that class, whether it's with ease or difficulty.

But even then, to most, the difference between 'capability' and 'specialty' might not matter much, but for elites, it was a huge deal. A simple misreading of the situation could bring about victory or defeat.

There was a time when a group suggested a method for distinguishing between the two, but having two grading systems was already hard enough. Currently, there were very few nations that used small marks that indicated specialty from capability, but on a worldwide scale, those methods were not adopted.

After the exam, both Shin and Diavolo were graded as G-class individuals. To them, it was an obvious result because as hunters, they were used to fighting animals in groups. Yukio was graded to be a U-class, meaning that he could only handle one opponent at a time.

If dropped into a group fight, Yukio could still hold his own, but he would have to switch his attention repeatedly which decreased his fighting efficiency. On the flip side, Diavolo and Shin were used to handling more than one opponent at the same time, hence the difference.

All in all, Yukio was graded to be a "1-star, U-class" individual whereas Shin and Diavolo were "1-star, G-class".

Compared to the second monthly exam, the third month's took more time. This was because each student was pitched into two situations: how well they fared as a team and how well they fared against a team.

As one would have guessed, the 1 vs team scenario determined an individual's class. However, there were no grading systems for team vs 1 or team vs team. The only 'grades' involved here were school grades.

For team vs team, the students were selected randomly. Or at least, that's what it was supposed to be except for a few exceptions.

Obvious to all, there was one matchup that was clearly set on purpose.

"Like this, our victory is secured, eh Diav?"

Diavolo smirked. "Hmph! I wonder what the authorities were thinking."

"Sure is nostalgic. Wanna do the usual?"

"Don't. I feel bad. Have mercy on our oppone—"

As the two stepped into the fighting area, their words were halted when the people opposite to them stepped in.

"Ehehe!" The youth awkwardly giggled as he scratched his head. "Hi guys."

The fresh looking face in front of them was okay. It was a face they would see every day. But what surprised them was the brooding man beside him. The man with tan skin and bleached hair. The man the entire student body disliked.

"You have 30 seconds to discuss your plans!" the instructor announced.

"Oi, Shin. I take it ba—"

"I know. This'll be tough."

Why, one may ask? Fixed matchups for exceptional students was not a big deal. But this team was surprising. One would expect this person to be teamed up with one of his lackeys, but it was completely the opposite. But thinking about it for a while, it made some sense to Diavolo and Shin. Hence they were on full alert. They knew what was coming. Especially after the following exchange.

"Oi," the two heard Claude call out to Yukio.

Before he could respond, Claude was already up near his ear and whispered something in it. Yukio jumped a little for a moment but then his eyes opened wide and as soon as Claude moved away, he stared at him and gave a wide smile.

"I'll cave that face in if you give me that look again."

And then, five minutes after the match started:

"Hurgh!" Diavolo coughed.

"Your eyes are disappointing…" Claude whispered with a deep voice into Diavolo's ear. His foot standing firmly on his chest and having both Diavolo's arms locked to the ground with his own.

"Diav! Shit!" Shin yelled as his mind got distracted by his pinned down teammate.

"Your opponent is here, Shin!" Yukio declared as he swiftly used his Material Natura to yank at his feet while making the floor slippery.

"My ass it is! You guys have been switching opponents nonstop!" Shin shouted in frustration as he lay flat on the floor. But his breath stopped in his throat as soon as his eyes captured the multiple marble sized water droplets that surrounded their being.

It was a match. Yukio and Claude had won. Except for a select few, everybody else were simply confused as to what had happened. Why that had happened. And also how that had happened. From the matchup to the result, nobody could understand it.

"Just what was that?! Since when are you so chummy with him?!" Shin interrogated Yukio after the whole exam session was over.

"Wait, wait! Hear me out!" Yukio begged putting his palms in front of him to prevent Shin from advancing any further.

"Stop it, Shin. I can't blame him. Teaming them up was probably the only correct decision for a proper test."

"But… I just can't accept this!"

The fact was, that the school authority very well knew about the situation surrounding Claude, Hannah and the transferees. Rumors spread like wildfire after all.

Setting the transferees into any random team was not a problem, but it was Claude. His temperament was a big issue. Even if he was quite skilled, this was not a test that he could be excused from. Thus teaming him up appropriately was very important.

Any random student was a no go. They would be too afraid or too self-concerned for this to be a proper team fight.

On the flip side, Diavolo's incident with him was a point of interest. Putting rivals into the same team was a risky but interesting tactic to see how things unfold. The authority would've actually gone with it, but the recent slump in Diavolo's performance made the team up less appealing.

Shin was out of the question. Not only was he Diavolo's friend, but he was too hyper. He would very quickly anger Claude and cause a mess.

The only other plausible team to put him with was with Yukio. The reason for why Claude wasn't put with his two trusted mates was because they were lackeys. They would not be able to work with him as a team. A true team. However, Yukio seemed like an understanding individual. He would calmly assess the situation and deal with it accordingly. Not to mention that he was just within Claude's tolerance level. Adding to the fact that he had shown most progress among the three, it was the only remaining option left.

Stolen story; please report.

"Even if he's done bad things, I don't think he's done them without reason," Yukio sided.

"Yu, what are you saying! Causing so many of the students harm like that, you think he had a legitimate reason for that other than enjoyment?! Do you think Hannah's lying?"

"That's not what I'm saying! That's… also something I'm not rejecting… It's just that, after Diavolo's fight with him, he seemed to be thinking about something. He won't be harming anyone unconditionally anymore… is the feeling that I'm getting. Plus, if he was such a person as everybody thought he was, he would've rejected me teaming up with him, but he didn't. He's actually the one who came up with the plan to beat you guys!"

Claude seemed to be an adaptive fighter, similar to both Diavolo and Shin. If one took in the factor that he had faced Diavolo before, there weren't many new tricks he could use against Claude. And since Yukio already knew both their fighting tactics, it was only a matter of coordination that would lead to certain victory.

"My point is… he's not a mindless beast. He accepted the current situation and dealt with it accordingly. I think we'll need to reevaluate things about him."

Both Diavolo and Shin sighed. They could say nothing more but accept things as they were, even if they didn't like it. Reevaluating Claude would mean desteeling the will they had to help Hannah. Having a strong opinion against Claude was important in pinning him down. But now they would have to take a more neutral stance.

On the bright side, it would be good news for Hannah knowing that there would be no more indiscriminate beat-up of students.

Moving on from the third monthly exam, again, the attacks did not come and the boys continued to lose their motivation. However, now that the crisis they stood alert for had entered a form of hiatus, their original goal had resurfaced in their minds.

They had no leads, yes, but they didn't let that demotivate them. Many things were tried. It was expected that Hannah didn't know, but Suzume seemed to have never even heard of it. She said that perhaps she fuzzily recalled the term in the past from passersby, but she didn't care about the topic.

They thought of asking the teachers, but Hannah warned them otherwise.

"Don't. Like I said before, you'd just be a hindrance and a laughing stock. Nobody here really cares about the Stone, so your enthusiasm might just annoy them."

But that still didn't stop them. At first, the homeroom teacher.

"U-um… I don't really have the time to think about such things… I need to worry about my job and whatnot, so… could you please excuse me?" she said with an awkward smile.

The math teacher.

"Hah?! If you guys have the liberty to dream about fairy tales, then get back to studying! Your grades aren't that good, you know!" with an annoyed expression.

The weaponry instructor.

"You guys… did you hit your head?" with a solemn look, as if he had incredible pity for them.

All these comments made them shudder. Their self-esteem was beginning to waver. But they were not done yet.

"No, not yet!" Shin exclaimed with a bitter face and decided to ask the students as well. Hannah simply sighed at the inevitable outcome.

"Uh… Mr. Ron… you're joking, right?"

"Bwahahahahaha! Did you hear that, Tap?! The transfer students have started to make jokes!"

"Eh? Ah? Uh? Oh… I see." And closing in, "Is this a new plan to lure out Brandt into another showdown? Am I being used to spread rumors here?"

And numerous other responses.

Nobody took them seriously. In fact, it was actually better that way. They gained such a reputation, if anybody got wind that they were actually serious about it, then they would probably reestablish their views on them.

Even after the exam, they still held somewhat high reputation. Wait, so, Claude won now? But would that be considered a win? He was teamed up with one of the transfer students after all. But then again, Claude pinned Diavolo down, so that's probably a win?

Such lines went about the student body. An obscure result yet again. But in their hearts, Diavolo was still the victor.

One such day, as they walked down the hallway with sullen faces, the desperate Shin took a daring move as they walked past Claude's group. If he really wasn't a mindless beast and had calmed down, how bad could it go, right?

"Y-yo, Claude! Would you, by any chance, know anything about the Stone of Eclipse?" And then in a smaller tone, "Just asking…"

Immediately, Claude froze in his place. Garth and Nicolas were having confused expressions, but the leader glared back at them without hesitation. "Is it okay to assume you have a death wish right at this instant?"

"Y-y-yeah, thought so. No, huh? Sorry for bothering you, then!"

"If you ever call out to me so casually like that, I don't care where, I'll fuck you up!"

"That's where you're bothered?!"

Shin thought the mere mentioning of the Stone was what angered him, apparently that wasn't the case.

Onlooking students had mixed responses. Some were amazed at their courage, some were flustered thinking that a fight would break out right that moment, others started to think that the boys really did want to use that as an excuse to call for a fight, so they thought about starting rumors.

But none paid any heed to those reactions, because the boys were too dejected.

"I told you, didn't I? This isn't the era where there were Stone fanatics everywhere you go. The generations slowly grew out of it. Stone of Eclipse believers are a minority now. If you have any chance of gaining intel about it, it would be in the Holy Kingdom of Tosis. At least for now, I'd recommend you give up," was what Hannah said.

Such was the case. No attacks, no duels, no leads. A three way deadlock. Forced to live a normal and dull lifestyle. Although there were some areas where people could point out was not 'normal', their life had become monotonous like such. Even if they had such strength, they could do nothing with it.

And like this, another month passed, leading to the fourth monthly exam: weapon handling.

By now everybody was excited to see what the boys had in store for them. They already knew that every exam was a showcase of their brilliance.

"What do you think will happen today?"

"Bet 500 Krinds that their weapons are actually first generation!"

"No way! Even if they're outrageous, that's still too much!"

"But what if they do?"

"Well if you're that confident, why don't you pull up the digits? I'll bet 2000 Krinds that they've got the latest model of third generations!"

"F-fine! You're on!"

Thus started the exam on weaponry. Looking around the gymnasium, one could see multiple types of weapons of various shapes and sizes. Nunchuck like weapons, spear like ones, swords, clubs, axes, scythes, bow and arrows, crossbows, daggers, hammers, whips, muskets, pistols and many more.

One at a time, the instructors would call them up and they would demonstrate their expertise in using their weapons. Naturally, they would also infuse them with their Natura. Almost all of the people did not know what their material was so it was all just Pure Natura. Then came the transfer students.

First in the queue was Shin. He held out his great-sword and stood in front of the instructor. Looking at the fine weapon, the instructor nodded and gestured to his assistant to bring something in. Soon enough, three long pieces of wood were brought in, all having a somewhat barrel shape and each having an increasing thickness. This was clearly a simple slashing test.

Usually, such a sword test is done using a wooden rod wrapped in straw or something similar, but this wasn't a normal test for normal people. This was something that involved Natura. And not just any kind of Natura.

Shin breathed an unnoticeable sigh of relief and took a stance. Keeping the straightest face he could muster, he looked sharply at his sword being held in front of the thinnest of the three wooden dummies.

With a brief and strong exhale, "Hah!" his sword glowed a dim yellow and enveloped itself with electricity. A quick swing was all it took. The dummy was sliced diagonally in the middle, leaving the cleanly cut areas with white smoke coming out of it due to the heat.

Shin flipped his sword in the air and grabbed it again as soon as the sword was done cutting the wood. Once in his hand again, the sword immediately lost its glint and energy, letting Shin heave a satisfied breath.

This whole process of activation to deactivation took no more than two seconds. It was all done incredibly quickly, causing the audience to flinch at first. When Shin was done, they could all do nothing but let out a subconscious "wow".

Next came the medium wood. Facing it, he once again took the same stance, but gripped the handle more strongly. A brief "Hah!" and the sword was once again covered in the same electric current. Pushing down on his swing with all the force from his shoulders and upper body, the wood snapped with a Gatak! sound. Again, because of the heat of the strike and current, the slices area of the wood briefly emitted white smoke.

Quickly flipping the sword in the air and grabbing it with his other hand, he stood in front of his final obstacle. He wasted no time. Once again, with a final "Hah!" he activated his Material Natura and launched a slashing attack, this time with the force from his entire body!

Making a Gjzzztak!-like sound, the top half of the wood was flung more than five meters away because of the force. Shin tossed his sword to his other hand and it simmered down again.

All this time, neither Shin nor any other student knew, that the wood was not only thicker, but they were different kinds of wood too.

The instructor nodded. "Hm! You did good! Congratulations! Are you satisfied with this result or do you want to increase the difficulty?"

Shin flinched a little. He somewhat timidly answered, "I think I'll pass…" while scratching his head.

This was not some kind of second chance. The thing is that, by this time, most students are usually already accustomed to their weapons, whereas the test taken by Twinsoul at this time of the year is taken using the bare minimum requirements, or, what the authorities think the student should already be capable of.

However, if one wished for it, they were allowed to go further and test themselves at harder difficulties. Depending on the result, some students may receive a few bonus marks, but usually, the cost outweighs the benefits, so it is not done unless they actually want to test their heights.

But all that didn't really matter, because Shin had done it! He had finally gained control over his weapon! After so long! After such excruciating training and the anguish he went through, he had finally succeeded!

Too bad that wasn't the case.

On the surface, it seemed like Shin was a natural when it came to using his greatsword, but underneath, the subtle moves were carefully crafted by him to ensure nobody found out. The fact was that Shin still had the same troubles.

He still had to blank his mind to use it. An impulsive and excitable person like Shin was not good at such a thing. He could only manage to do so for so long until things went out of whack. That was what the whole tossing was about. He would cut off the power for the sword while he was still under control. But he made them all look natural.

Even if it was slightly disappointing that Shin didn't take a higher difficulty to display more of his abilities, his peers didn't care much about it. This was because the unveiling of much more important information was about to take place.

"Very well then. I will then proceed to register this as your preferred choice of weapon. Give me the following details."

Till now, nobody had actually asked them what generation their weapon was. This was because they all wanted to be surprised at the final moment. Letting the curtains open to a finale.

Yes. They waited months for the revelation to take place. All of them had branded together and collectively decided not to ask them, which seemed strange to the boys themselves, but they went with it.

"Here it comes!" "Please let me be right!" some students whispered.