Inside the teachers' lounge.

  Many teachers were working hard at their desks. Among them, a young teacher with dark blue hair was easy to spot.

  "Ms. Reed, what are you working on?"

  "I'm just reading the students' middle school files and entrance test scores."

  "Working hard on the very first day, I see."

  Hannah Bennett, the homeroom teacher for Class 3, sneaked up on Diana Reed and handed her a can of sweet coffee. Diana always needed sugar and caffeine, so this was exactly what she needed.

  "Drink this while you work, Ms. Reed."

  "Thanks. I was starting to feel sleepy."

  "Oh my. Are you losing sleep over the new school year?"

  "No, it's just my liver acting up."

  Diana answered the playful joke with a blank face and took a sip of her coffee. Hannah wanted to tease her more about the liver comment. But remembering Diana's past injuries, she decided it was better not to make a bad joke. So, she kept her mouth shut.

  "Oh, right, Ms. Reed." A sudden thought seemed to pop into Hannah's head. "Did you do 'that trick' on the students? You know what I mean, right?"

  "What trick?"

  "You know, when you let out your killing intent to scare the kids."

  "I wasn't trying to scare them."

  Not trying to scare them? If Hannah had been in that class, she would have been terrified. She probably would have even talked badly about Diana behind her back with the other kids.

  "Oh, please. Your killing intent is strong enough to make real heroes shake."

  "If they get scared that easily, they should stop trying to be heroes. They would be useless in a real fight anyway."

  "You are always so strict, Ms. Reed."

  "Still, it is not good to scare the kids that much. They are at a sensitive age, right?"

  "They are not just kids; they are heroes in training. We cannot treat them like babies forever."

  "You are so stubborn. That is why the students never visit you on Teacher's Day. Look at me. I am super popular with my class."

  Hannah bragged about her popularity with a proud look. And it was true, she was very well-liked. Her young age and cute, puppy-like face made her very approachable.

  "Ms. Reed, you shouldn't look so bored all the time. You should dress up nicely. It's such a waste of your pretty face."

  "Sure."

  What a blunt answer. At this rate, she was going to be single forever. As her coworker, Hannah felt a bit worried.

  "Anyway, how is Class 1 doing? People are calling them the 'Golden Generation'."

  "They are okay. There are a few kids I am watching closely."

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  "Really? Well, there is the heir to the Vance Conglomerate, the second son of the Steele Clan, and... oh, the young lady from the Sovereign Clan. Wow, you really have a lot of talented kids."

  People had called these kids prodigies for years. They were expected to become the top heroes of the next generation. In just a few years, they would be the main defenders of the nation and probably famous on TV. Even as a teacher, Hannah felt proud just thinking about their bright futures.

  "But who are you staring at so hard? Let me take a look... Huh? Who is Oliver Brooks?"

  "Just a student I am curious about."

  Oliver Brooks, Oliver Brooks... Hannah thought hard, but she could not put a face to the name. She was confused. If Diana was interested in him, he should be famous, right? It was weird.

  "I have never heard that name."

  "That makes sense. He barely passed the Vanguard entrance test."

  "What?"

  Hannah blinked in shock. Why focus on a kid like that? There was already so much work to do at the start of the year.

  "Wait? He got in off the waitlist? Wow... he completely failed the physical test. How is he even here? Oh, he got a perfect score on the written exam? That is really lopsided."

  Looking at the file Diana was reading, Hannah felt both amazed and worried. Oliver's academic grades were incredible. But that just made it even sadder.

  "His written scores are... wow. They are truly amazing. It looks like the school accepted him because he could be a great tactical advisor. But as an actual fighting hero, he falls way short."

  He could have just gone to a regular school, gotten a nice job, and lived a quiet life. As a teacher, it broke her heart to see him try so hard for a path that didn't fit him. Everyone knows that if you don't have a natural gift for fighting, hard work won't get you very far. Oliver clearly did not have the talent to be a hero.

  "He doesn't seem like the type of student you usually care about, Ms. Reed."

  It made more sense to watch kids like Julian Vance, Damian Steele, or Serena Sterling.

  "Is there a special reason why you are looking at him?"

  "This boy..." Diana stopped for a second before going on. "He didn't even flinch when I let out my killing intent."

  "Him?"

  That was shocking. Even if Diana held back, a normal student shouldn't be able to handle that. A regular kid should have been shaking like a person trapped with a hungry tiger. But this student named Oliver Brooks completely brushed off Diana's terrifying aura.

  "Oh? Could it be this?"

  Hannah looked at Oliver's physical test scores and let out a sigh. It all made sense now. His physical stats were terrible.

  "Maybe his senses are just too weak to feel your killing intent? I know this is Vanguard, but we get kids like that sometimes."

  Every once in a while, a student comes along who just cannot sense things like a dangerous aura. Of course, since this is Vanguard, it is very rare. But sometimes, a plain rock slips through the cracks when you are digging for diamonds.

  "That is true," Diana nodded easily.

  Not every kid at the nation's best school is a top-tier fighter. There are always a few students like Oliver who get in just because their written test scores are so high.

  "But that is not the only reason I am interested in him."

  "What else is there?"

  Hannah leaned in, curious. Diana scratched her chin and answered.

  "He was way too calm."

  "Calm?"

  What did she mean by that? Oh, she must mean during the aura test.

  That was a bit strange. Even if you can't feel the pressure, seeing the rest of the class gasping and falling over should scare you. When something like that happens out of nowhere, even a brave person would jump.

  "Was he too relaxed? Or just too calm? He acted like he had seen it a million times before, even though it was a very scary moment."

  "Maybe someone told him about your first-day trick beforehand?"

  "I guess that is possible... but..." Diana thought back to what happened. "...It felt more like he was judging me with his eyes."

  He wasn't just looking at the other kids; Diana felt like he was evaluating her, too. The more she thought about it, the creepier it felt.

  "You know what I mean. He seems like the type of kid who is hiding a big secret."

  "Ah! You just have a gut feeling, right? Well, your instincts are always right, Ms. Reed. Yeah, this totally reminds me of that boy from two years ago."

  "......."

  "You remember, the one who caused that huge 'rule-breaking' mess and dropped out two years ago."

  "...Anyway, I am going to keep watching him closely."

  She wanted to see if Oliver was going to be a problem just like that kid from two years ago.