I gather my things from Astrid’s room and head back to my old home on the first floor. How careless of them to leave the door unlocked. I unpack everything into my old room where it all was. After I’m done, I hurry on back to the classroom.

From the looks of it, they’re still taking the exam. I carefully open the door, go in, and then close it behind me. Most of the non-exam takers are asleep. Perfect, it’s a good chance to sneak closer and hide. Uh, oh, looks like Moria saw me. He cocks an eyebrow, but otherwise doesn’t say anything. I’ll be in the row right behind Luna, Sitos, Marin, and Drugo. I duck down into a crawl while I wait for the conclusion of the exam.

“Time is up!” Moria exclaims. “Hand me your exam if you haven’t already. Give me ten minutes to grade everyone’s test.”

Footsteps resound, but no other voices. Everyone must be anxious about the results.

“Welcome back…Hiro. How do you think you did?” Marin asks.

“I believe in you.” Hiro responds.

I smile, holding in my chuckle. Yeah, that’s the Hiro I know.

The moment finally arrives after a grueling ten minutes. I position myself to ready to congratulate Hiro.

“I have the results,” Moria announces. Several seconds pass before he continues, “Everyone…failed.”

Huh? I slowly drop my jaws, but I don’t feel anger, only disbelief.

Moria suddenly laughs. I rarely ever hear him laugh.

“I am just kidding! You all passed!”

Cheers resound around the room.

“You did it, Hiro the Great,” Sitos says.

“Congrats, Hiro the Great!” I jump up and exclaim.

I simultaneously witness everyone’s surprised face as they turn to me.

“Kai? What’re ya doin’ here?”

“Well…I—“

“Yes, I would like to know too,” Moria says as he walks toward us. “What are you doing here by yourself? Should you not be with your new team?”

“Yeah, about that… I want to come back!”

“Really?! That’s—“

“Hold up children,” Moria interrupts Hiro. “That is not fair to Lance who I have promised that you will be coming on board. Have you spoken to your team already?”

Astrid said she’ll take care of it, right? Hopefully the rest of the team doesn’t raise much of a fuss. I don’t want a situation where I have to mention her name. I answer, “Yeah. They’re fine with me leaving.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“And why do you want to come back now?”

“I don’t feel a strong connection to Lance’s group. Not just his group, but any of the teams I visited. It felt like they didn’t care about me but only that I had talent. I formed some good memories with my old team. I felt like a third wheel with Lance’s group because we don’t share the same inside jokes and memories. It feels forced.

You said in our first year that team synergy is most important. How can I trust a team that only cares about what I can do and not who I am?”

I’ve become friends with everyone here over the past year despite that they thought I was the most talentless student, and we’ve established some trust because of that. I don’t wanna abandon that. If we can work together well, it doesn’t matter if we have flaws. We can cover each other’s weaknesses with our strengths because it’s not a competition of individual skill. It was our fault we didn’t recognize Hiro’s misunderstanding until it was too late.”

Moria smiles. “That was well put. Congratulations on passing my hidden assessment! That goes for the lot of you as well who supported Hiro!”

“What other assessment?” I ask.

“I wanted to see if you would really commit to abandoning your friends for a new team. Remember that failure is inevitable, no matter what. A true team is about learning to overcome failures together, no matter the challenge.”

I knit my eyebrows. “You were testing me this entire time? What would you have done if I stayed with Lance’s team?”

“Well, I would have allowed it but would have been severely disappointed. I am happy you made the correct decision. There are those who are known as team jumpers. They willingly abandon their groups for new ones so often that no one will ever trust them again. You are right in saying that trust is the most important. In a dangerous battle, you will want teammates that you can trust your lives to and not the ones that will leave you for dead."

I want to reward you with a little something. I cannot grant you the large room, however… I will reward you with six pieces of furniture!”

“Really?!”

“Yes, you have earned it. I wanted to reward you too because you scored 300 points on the test.”

“Awesome! I want a couch!”

“And I want a punchin’ bag!”

“Settle down, I will visit your room later to write down your requests,” Moria says and then turns to everyone else in the room. “Everyone is free to attend the magic category class of their choosing. If you hurry, you will be able to make it for the day.”

With that, the other groups start swarming out of the room.

“Kai!” Luna suddenly jumps over to my row and hugs me. She smells good. “I’m proud of you!”

I blush and turn away. I don’t know what to say after the short speech I delivered to Moria.

“You’re really comin’ back?” Hiro asks. “I won’t disappointcha again!”

“Yeah, I’m back. Don’t worry too much about what happened.”

“Good to have you back, Kaister.”

“I’m happy,” Marin says, smiling.

“Yes…it is great that you are back,” Sitos says with a frown.

Is he disappointed because it turns out he won’t have his rank two after all? None of that should matter anymore.

I smile. “Well, we should all get going to our specific Evocation classes! I’ll catch you guys later!”

“Oh, Kai, I have one final gift waiting for you!” Moria exclaims from behind me.

Another gift? What could it be? We go our separate ways and hurry to our respective classes. Luna is the only one with me now.

“Kai, slow down!” Luna exclaims, gasping for breath despite the short distance we traveled.

I stop and wait for her to catch up. You would think that one of the smartest students in the class would remember one of the simplest concepts. “You didn’t forget that Calculators can’t neglect their physical training either, did you? Using Mana gradually exhausts the body.”

“I know…but it’s hard.”

“It’s hard at first. Haven’t you gotten used to it by now? It’s been a year.”

“They didn’t require running until this year.”

I sigh before saying, “Fine. We can walk the rest of the way, so you can save your energy for our yellow ticket task.”

“Thanks,” she says with a smile. We walk side by side. “By the way, have you decided what you want me to do for the bet? I’ll do anything, so don’t hold back.”

Anything? Should I ask her if she wants to have explosions together? I gulp. That would be really nice with Luna. But, no. There’s no way that she would do that. She definitely would get angry, and I’ll end up with worms in my dinner. What if she’s okay with it?

“What’s wrong? Your face’s red.”

“No-nothing,” I say. I need to stop thinking about that. I don’t want her to notice the bulge from my pants.

“By the way, who’s Daisy? I never got to ask on the day you left.” Luna asks.

Why does she have to ask about her? She keeps poking me where I wish she wouldn’t. “It was someone from one of the groups I met. I didn’t end up choosing that group.”

“Why not? Did something happen with them?”

Stop asking about her, please! I avoid her gaze in fear that she’d read my face if she hasn’t already. My mind scrambles for an explanation to give her.

“Something did happen, didn’t it?” She asks. “Tell me.”

“Okay, you got me… You’re right. Something did happen. They started taking off their clothes, and it got weird. That’s why I told them I’m going with Lance’s group and left early,” I say. “Moria was expecting me to pick me up in two hours, and I wasn’t there, and that’s when Daisy must’ve told him.”

“Oh…” she interjects as her face flushes red.

She wasn’t expecting that, huh. Neither of us says anything for over a minute.

“Are you…interested in that sorta stuff?” Luna suddenly asks.

“Wh-what? No, of course not,” I say, despite my face burning up.

She giggles and then says, “Never mind. I already know the answer.”

If she knows, why does she have to ask me?

“Is this what you wanna use your bet for? I won’t be mad.”

She says that, but I don’t believe her. I want to ask her to do more than that, but I know it’s wrong. Everyone agreed to the bets knowing that no one would do anything bad. She’s testing me. I know it. In the calmest voice I can muster, I say, “No, I don’t want you to do that.”

“Hmm, okay. What do you want instead?”

“How about a massage…?” I ask and then add, “Every once in a while.”

“Okay! Just ask me when you want one.”