Ignatius had been through big changes in his life before. A few were related to his father's job and patrol routes his mother started to take, making him see a fair amount of babysitters while they adjusted their schedule. Others came to be as a result of unexpected circumstances – a mass Villain attack had once forced them to change cities.

For the first time, however, the big change came from a positive place. As a boarding school, Olympia offered mostly furnished housing for their students. Many of them could also return to their parents after school or for the weekends, should they live nearby. While the redhead's parents did not, he had two reasons to move closer.

One was Charles's job at the power plant being closer to the school than his actual home. It wasn't a big difference, but enough to where he could take a later bus - one that wouldn't hurt his sleeping schedule or cause him to be late for his work. That alone might not have been enough for the Redds to make the change.

But the Scarlet Striker's patrol route being changed with the move would prove to be a huge boon – many Heroes had moved near her district. This practically forced her to take long ways around to avoid creating an overflow of them, which didn't sit right with her want to ensure nobody was left behind. With the young redhead making it to the high school of choice, all of them would easily benefit from moving closer to it.

The teen thus saw himself on a moving truck to Chicago. Most of his belongings were on the other trucks with his parents, headed to their new home. The ones he was taking to Olympia were a few essentials like major changes of clothing, some bathroom supplies and a few posters he could use to decorate his room cleanly. Clad in a hoodie as red as his hair and some black sweatpants, he was ready to join the rest of his class.

The hour and a half-long drive there wasn't nearly as nerve-wracking as the first time he visited Olympia for his exams. The school was still loud and imposing, but going there around 10:30 AM instead of before 9 made it much easier to digest, especially now that he was a student of the school rather than just an applicant.

What did make him nervous, however, was the small detour towards the dorms. It didn't take any additional time, nor was the building where the rooms were too different from the main part of the school, but it did create a few expectations about his classmates, especially those he had no knowledge of.

Ignatius had known from some texts that all three of Alora, Rayleigh and Merri were in the Hero Course, with the purple-haired girl in 1-β rather than 1-α. He also figured that Sutaa was a shoe-in for the course, having seen how effortlessly he tossed a Thug in the exam without having transformed, and how he caught a Villain's fist when he was in top shape. There were rumours here and there of a few other standouts, but nothing concrete, leaving him speculating as to who was part of the classes.

He and the moving crew easily got out, with two coming from behind the truck, holding a few items already. The crew's large frames were more than able to hold the larger pieces to furnish the rest of the dorm room, allowing Ignatius to take the lead. However, the teen was able to take no more than two steps before coming face to face with the orientating guide for the exam. It had caught the teen a bit by surprise, but he knew he would be seeing Terabyte again sooner or later.

"Hey, Ignatius, right?" The rat man gave a toothy smile and offered a quickly taken hand, any intimidation that he might have had completely gone from the combination of gestures. "Glad to see you could make it! Are you here to set up your dorm room?" A mostly silent and curt nod came his way, followed by his hand being let go of. "I know it's nearly on the deadline, but I really needed the extra time to pack."

"Hey, there's still a few days until the start of the year!" The rather tall Hero chuckled. "A couple of other students are in there finishing up, so you won't be alone. If you need anything, just push the emergency button next to the door!" As quickly as he had arrived, he left, leaving the redhead to himself for the time being as the crew had gone ahead in front of him.

With newfound excitement and nervousness, he took his first step into a new dorm life.

The energy surrounding the dorms was rather overwhelming for Ignatius.

Outside the mess of several sets of items in the living room, it seemed to be rather standard for a boarding school. There was a large wooden table accentuated by a few sofas surrounding it, and a large TV, currently powered off, in front of it all. Not too far from it, the button Terabyte had mentioned, coloured in red. The living room also seemed to lead into a kitchen where the more culinary-oriented students could try their hands at a meal.

Large movers with noticeable Quirks that increased their strength in one way or another took some of the bigger items like parts of beds, or entire boxes filled with what seemed to be clothing up the stairs. Among them, the ones Ignatius recognized as his own movers carried boxes of clothing to his designated room. Most of the outfits were as simple as the one he currently wore, with a few button-up shirts and dress pants for good measure.

"No, two inches to the left of the bed! Come on, we're still a far cry from acceptable!" The loud, exasperated voice came from a floor above, superimposed over the movers simply trying to do their job and easily interrupting the redhead's thoughts. Before he could try to make sense of it, the owner of the voice came down.

If every other student he had met in the exams was as casual as they could be, if a bit nervous at times, the teen in front of him was a polar opposite in almost every way. Sharp blue eyes that bore holes into Iggy, as if studying his every feature to the letter, jet black hair seemingly intentionally styled to look a bit messy, and a face that screamed photogenic. The tight shirt and pants he wore completed the look of formality, a fashion Iggy had not seen even among the more interesting people in the exam.

"Pardon the tone you may have heard", he spoke carefully, seeming almost afraid to say the wrong thing in the wrong way. "I want to ensure my comfort, and careful placement of my possessions can be... tricky, to say the least." With as little effort as possible, he extended his hand, a slight smile gracing his face. "Beauregard Seo-Jun. I do hope we can find some companionship in these years together."

The redhead took the hand out of courtesy, but was still particularly taken aback – no other person he had met that he knew was part of the classes was quite like this. "Ignatius Redd. It's... nice to meet you." He worried that his tone of voice made it sound otherwise, but he did mean it truthfully, simply being unsure of how he could make a good first impression with someone who seemed so different from him and most teens he knew.

If Beau had been upset or even noticed the strange tone, he didn't show a bit of it on his seeming perpetual smile. "I'll be finished with packing in just a few moments. Perhaps I could help you with your own room afterwards?"

"It's fine, really", Ignatius spoke up a bit louder than he perhaps intended. "I don't have much to unpack that the movers can't get to." With a small nod, he moved along, past the blue-eyed student and up the stairs. "I'll... be seeing you in class, hopefully!" Without another word and feeling rather awkward as it was, he left for what was his designated room.

The movers had already dropped off the bigger items in place, with only the unpacked clothing left to store neatly. A few more formal uniforms, most of the casual wear, and more than enough gym clothes to last him the year, assuming a uniform wasn't provided to them by the teachers either way.

He took out his phone to check his messages, the last one having been sent by Rayleigh. He had invited the redhead to a casual hangout the day after his move, in a place not too far from the school grounds. Iggy was tempted to accept, yet needed more time with his thoughts and nerves before he could realistically do so.

The most important years of their lives were about to start, and he didn't want to miss a beat.

The weekend passed by the teen faster than he ever could have expected. Even if only for two days, living in the new home was a different experience, yet familiar to the new Olympia student. Waking up early and seeing both parents off in different directions left Iggy essentially alone for those two days, allowing him to take more than enough moments of contemplation to last him the weekend before the new life.

Now, however, it was Monday, and he left with his parents, the three of them taking different directions. His mother to one street, his father to the one opposite it, and the teen taking the road in front of him, making a slight jog towards his new school life. While he wasn't late at a walking pace, he did still want to make a good enough first impression towards both colleagues and faculty.

Thankfully, the beacon that was Olympia's arch stood tall among most buildings, making for an easy way to spot a path to the high school. In no time at all, Ignatius had found a course and stuck to it, reaching the gates that separated him and a few others from the new school life. He knew soon enough to take his place in line, standing behind a fair amount of strangers who likely were headed to similar classes.

Holding the gates was a fairly tall man with long green-orange hair styled in a ponytail, his sharp sunset eyes almost blending in with his olive complexion, but contrasting with the blue suit he wore. His expression was kept in a carefully crafted smile, knowing to break it only when necessary, particularly when needing to call out the next person in line.

One by one, the students were filtered in, scanning the card on the small device that stuck up from the ground, and the redhead's turn eventually did come. Without needing to be asked, he put his student card next to the machine, hearing the satisfying beep of success.

"Ignatius Redd... oh, are you Scarlet Striker's kid?" The guard flashed a grin, to which the teen could only sheepishly smile. "Heard quite a bit about you. Glad to see you in Olympia", he continued, opening up the gates for the teen to proceed, a slight red tint to Iggy's cheeks from embarrassment. "Good luck on your first day!" The sentence was left unheard, with Ignatius still trying to process too many things at once.

It was these distractions that almost made him bump into someone just about to enter the classroom that was, coincidentally, 1-α's homeroom door. Bright blue hair caught his attention, and he looked down to see someone familiar again, a sigh of relief involuntarily escaping him.

"O-oh! Iggy!" Alora's slightly anxious voice was almost soothing for the redhead who was a pile of nerves himself. "Glad to see you made it! Here, I mean! To the classroom! The directions can be a bit confusing..." Trying not to stumble upon her words further even as she quieted down, she quickly made her way inside, followed by a redhead who saw that they weren't the first ones there.

Already, it seemed like conversations and small groups had been forming within the class. Iggy had quickly noticed Rayleigh trying to make conversation with the tall, blue-skinned Sutaa who clearly just wanted to stay quiet for the time being, as well as Beauregard, whose fashionable attire made him distinct from everyone else. He offered a small, casual wave at seeing the fellow teen, to which he got one back.

The redhead made his way closer to his own little group, the spiky blonde offering a fist bump which was more than happily taken. "Hey, look who's here! Almost felt like you were avoiding us with all the time you wanted for yourself!"

He shook his head, trying not to let his nervousness show more than it already had as he took his seat in front of the blonde, with Alora sitting to his right. "Just got a lot on my mind. Had to move from somewhere smaller to here, and I've never gotten used to big cities." Taking a deep breath, he unpacked some of his things, setting up to write down whatever he might need to while the rest of the class poured in.

Eventually, all 16 students were seated. A few were still engaged in idle conversation, but nerves were fairly high as they wondered what the first day would be like, who the teacher was, and what friends they could make between themselves and perhaps even their sister class.

It was then they heard the distinct sound of hooves hitting the floor tiles.

The door opened again to a fairly short, yet stout woman in a pair of khakis and an orange vest shirt. The first thing most noticed were her brown-furred legs ending in goat-like hooves. Others took note of a pair of curved horns protruding from her orange hair tied into a ponytail, the bangs parting perfectly to each side and away from her green eyes. She carried a relatively large suitcase, putting it on the desk in front of her once fully situated.

"Good morning everyone, and welcome to Olympia's 1-α hero course!" Her soft voice and gentle smile quickly put most of the class at ease, giving her ample opportunity to retrieve a marker to write on the whiteboard. "My name is Ava Carol, and for this year, I'll be your homeroom teacher." She twirled the marker between her fingers before writing the schedule she had on hand.

"Your schedule was already sent to you both by letter and your new dedicated e-mail, but I will add that the Heroics class at the end of each day will be multipurpose", the orange-haired teacher noted towards her students, body twisting to meet them again. "Most days you'll have combat training, while others will be focused on rescue or support. You'll learn the basics of all three this year, with the chance to specialise in any of them in following years."

Ava quickly put her writing instrument away, her smile turning into a beaming grin. "Each of the teachers will go over their own classes in more detail, of course. As for myself, I'll be touching upon the history of heroics, as well as important battles both in the States and across the globe."

With no raised hands and seemingly no questions, she continued. "I will also be assisting in the other classes sporadically – while I can't guarantee to be in other classes every day, I do plan on appearing at least two or three times per week in order to help each of the teachers out with extra work." A few wondered what that would entail – was their teacher a sort of jack of all trades, or was she only there as an assistant?

"That settled, the principal has asked me to give you a little series of tests." A few mumbles were raised among the class, but the teacher was quick to speak up again in order to keep them mostly quiet. "You'll see a few guidelines towards the locker rooms and then into the training room we'll use for this. I'd like you all to change into the provided gym outfits, marked with your names, and meet me there in about 15 minutes."

Ava quickly closed her case, heading away from the classroom, followed by more than a few of the students packing up their things to leave behind her. Ignatius was among the last to leave, but he did catch the particular black-haired teen leaving ahead of him, his head turning with that unflinching smile. "Let us do our very best, shall we?"

The redhead had no time to reply initially, but did so mostly to himself after everyone else had left, taking a deep breath to face his new life in Olympia. "Yeah... let's."

The class slowly filtered into the gym room they had gotten assigned to, and was quickly amazed. While nowhere near as grand as the sites of the exams, the rooms were large, clearly designed for training purposes of all types. Rows upon rows of fresh punching machines littered a small corner of the room, while a large track went around the floor, allowing those with a larger running motivation to thrive.

"This is the Aleph Training Room 1", Ava brought them to attention from the center of the room, dressed in gym clothes just like her class. "You'll be able to use these at any point throughout your three years in Olympia, provided you use the sheet at the entrance to sign yourselves in." She stepped forward, revealing the machine behind her, just like the rest, but turned on.

"You may have done a few tests in P.E. classes at some point during your lives, but they were always sans your Quirks. There's nothing wrong with those, of course..." She twisted her body to punch the machine, revealing a not too shabby score of 103 on the screen above, earning a few sounds of surprise from a few members of the class.

"But Quirks are just like muscles. If you train them enough..." The teacher stepped forwards further, before kicking back at full speed and actually pushing the machine a bit, the score of 905 displaying above the weight. "Well, you can tell for yourselves, right?" The noise quickly became a cacophony of excitement and wonder at how high the numbers could go.

Ava made sure to motion to the rest of the gym in order to gather attention from her class. "We'll be running a series of short tests for everyone. Don't worry, you won't be directly compared to one-another." She put herself next to the punching machine, leaning against it a bit. "You'll be able to use your Quirks where you see fit, but don't worry if you can't find a test where they'll help – the tests are for your physical baseline, Quirk or no, and you'll surely improve on them over time."

Dusting off the machine to ensure no lasting damage, she took out a clipboard, looking through the list of names. "Let's start with this machine, and going in alphabetical order... Adela Espinoza?"

The rest of the class watched as from their group came a rather fit girl covered from head to toe in some sort of strange fuzz. Her light green skin stood out even among the more unique classmates, topped only by her dark green sclera and nearly neon green irises. She had elected to keep her cowboy hat with the rest of the generic gym attire, making her stand out further.

"I just have to hit this as hard as I can, right?" She asked Ava with a hardened voice, who gave a gentle smile and a nod, allowing the green-skinned girl to grin. "I'll start us off right, then!" She cocked her fist back, then launched a fairly strong haymaker into the machine, making it wobble slightly before it revealed a score of 98 to a few rumbles of nervousness and excitement.

Ignatius mused his options as the class took their turn, one by one. His Quirk wasn't suited for a strong punch or kick like his teacher's, which meant he had to get physical like the rest. Nothing he couldn't do, but certainly not something he was used to in a fight.

His name was, eventually, called, and he stepped forward, hearing mumbles behind him, ones he was sure was over the missing finger on his hand. Taking a deep breath, he slapped himself on the cheeks once and stretched his shoulders, then launched a fist towards the machine, quirking a brow at the number 87 above. Definitely not the best of the class, but he was confident that number would improve.

"That's pretty good, Iggy!" Alora noted from his left. "I barely got a 75 myself..." To his right, the boy he knew as Beauregard simply smiled, his own 88 just slightly better than the redhead's, and something he almost felt was going to be mentioned by the fellow classmate.

"Mallory Savage?" Another name was called, and Ignatius had to blink back his surprise seeing easily the tallest girl in the class with a muscular build to match step forward, her long dirty blonde hair bobbing from underneath the helmet she wore. Without a single word, she threw her punch, impressing quite a few with her 102 before she went back to the group, expression on the screen unchanging from what seemed to be neutral, if a bit sour.

"Jeez... is that part of her Quirk?" Rayleigh wondered out loud further to Iggy's left, making the teen wonder the same, but coming to a possible different conclusion related to the potential purpose of the helmet.

They watched on as Sutaa's name was called, and he quietly asked something about his clothing being adaptable before he actually took the chance to activate his own Quirk, turning him from the already tall, beanpole of a boy to a much taller and much more muscular figure, complete with the enlarged canines and nails, as well as his hair.

Whatever thoughts the class had about him were completely shattered as his punch soared the number on the display to a 473 – nowhere near his teacher's level, but easily the top of the class. He deactivated his form, feeling a bit of fatigue and being handed a power bar from Ava for his troubles. "I've made sure to read up on all your Quirks, don't worry." Her voice was gentle yet knowing, leaving the blue-skinned boy to wonder how to feel about it.

One by one, tests came 1-α's way. The 100m run had been dominated by a boy covered in bright feathers and a pair of wings, his time only remotely followed by a short girl who quite literally teleported forward a few times in her display.

This Quirk proved quite useful in the long jump, where she thrived compared to the rest. Her score was, however, closely followed by a boy whose legs turned into those of a grasshopper's, making a couple of his classmates wince and one outright squeak in slight fear.

While Alora had no particular high scores elsewhere, her natural agility was vital in the side hops test, distancing her from most of her class then despite never using her Quirk. Rayleigh had gotten good scores on most tests, never the top but almost always in the higher side of the class, and Sutaa had clearly made his mark in the punching machine.

In fact, most of Ignatius's class had stood out in one test or another, and he wondered if he was really better than all those other applicants if he couldn't make himself visible to the students and teacher. Although his Quirk hadn't been used anywhere, and he clearly wasn't falling behind in any category besides side hops (which he noted as an area to work on), he hadn't felt particularly special at any point.

The last test had come, however, and it was one that he had inadvertently trained heavily for – the target test. Their teacher gave them the option to either use a ball, their Quirk, or both, and attempt to hit as far away of a target as they could.

He watched early on as Beauregard retrieved a water bottle and popped it open, the blue in his eyes brightening as he pulled the water from the container to keep it under his control. With a graceful twist of his body, he launched the water forward, slamming it into the third furthest-most target and earning a few sounds of approval from classmates. Iggy had sworn he saw the black-haired teen smile at him as he turned back, but he kept that idea out of his mind as his turn approached.

The redhead denied the ball, wanting to use his Quirk at least once in these tests, and he looked towards the target at the opposite end of the room, furthest out from the spot for the test. A fair bit further than he was used to, but nothing he couldn't hit, especially as the target seemed larger than the ones he used.

Two fingers from his left hand aimed at the circle, thumb pointing up to make the shape of a pistol, and he took a few deep breaths to steel himself as he thought of all the training he did to get here. Acquaintances slowly becoming friends, rivals to be, and all of the worries that came with a new high school, especially one as prestigious as Olympia.

"Bang."

His quiet call was followed by the familiar spark of red coating the tips of his fingers. Two beams fired at once, joining into a stronger one that eventually hit the furthest-most target in the room and earning small applause from the new friends as well as a fair few of his classmates. Once he turned back, he nodded towards the class with flared determination, yet failed to notice the smile from Beau becoming a bit strained in response.

"Nicely done, Ignatius!" Ava encouraged the teen, noting down numbers only she could see at the moment, before calling upon the next student. Iggy had gotten himself a bit distracted with new thoughts, though he faintly heard praise from both Alora and Rayleigh, quietly thanking both with a sheepish smile.

Ahead of him, a dark-skinned boy with dreadlocks happened to hit the same target with what seemed to be a fair bit of sugar. Not too long after, a pink-haired teen got onto a knee, whispering something to a calico cat Ignatius hadn't noticed in the slightest during the tests, before it darted to the furthest target and scratched it with a claw as if doing her bidding.

By the end of it, however, the biggest surprise was yet to come – a tall, lanky girl with radiant emerald highlights in her otherwise black hair and equally green eyes stepped forward. She had mostly done decently in the tests, but hadn't stood out despite her rather unique appearance.

A few murmurs happened around her once she declined the ball, and it wasn't until she extended her palm that the noise quieted down. This was quickly followed by surprise as a horned, red snake shot out of the hole in her palm and slithered towards the furthest target, biting it with enough force to pierce, then moving back to her. Much like the teen who turned their body parts into bugs, the reptile had gotten some reactions of fear, causing the girl to shrink upon herself while returning to the group.

The tests finished, Ava moved in front of the class, holding up her digital clipboard. "You'll be able to see your results in the board by the entrance. Don't be discouraged if you're not where you want to be – these establish a starting point for all of you, and we'll make sure that you'll increase these scores to your best potential."

Murmurs of excitement came upon the class with her words, which she eased with a movement of her hands. "With that, I'll end my class here! Make sure to change into your clothes, and don't forget Maths will be in about an hour." Leaving the students to their own devices, most did a quick check over their scores before leaving for the locker rooms, but a few stuck behind to look over their capabilities more thoroughly.

Ignatius was part of the second category, noting fairly average scores across the board, other than the side hops test, which he fell short on, and the target test, in which he excelled. Next to him, the girl from earlier, standing particularly tall compared to the redhead and looking over her scores with a particular pout.

"You uh... doing okay?" He finally asked, seeing her visible emerald eye shift to the right almost immediately.

"That last test..." Her voice came out soft, quiet, a bit afraid of saying the wrong thing. "I scared everyone... again..."

This got the teen to raise a brow at her quizzically. "Some people are just afraid of snakes. I'm pretty sure some got scared when one of the others turned their legs into bug ones..."

"I... was one of them..." She admitted, rubbing her arm. "Still, my Quirk is so much weirder than everyone else's..."

Quietly and slowly, he offered a hand. "Our teacher has deer legs, someone before you was talking to a cat to hit the same target, and I'm pretty sure I passed a guy with a traffic light for a head on the way here. Can't be that much weirder." His soft smile grew a bit when she took his hand for a moment.

"T... thank you." She said nothing else, turning to leave for her side of the locker rooms and leaving Ignatius as the last one in the room. He looked over to the board, checking her name before finally taking his leave.

"Valeria Donelle..."

Two more classes came before lunch, and it was easy to notice that beyond Heroics and Homeroom, the Hero Course wasn't all too different from the General classes. Maths, given by Terabyte himself, was made a bit more exciting than the norm when he brought up all the formulas required for each and every one of his hero gadgets. On the other hand, there was little the teacher of Modern Literature could do to improve upon his class, in spite of his glowing body or multiple eyes that unnerved a few.

It was lunch that saw 1-α split into more obvious groups. A few had been established over the course of the morning between each class, while others had formed before, either during the entrance exam or in moving days.

One such group included Ignatius. He, Alora and Rayleigh had gotten along in shared experiences, and while Sutaa still wasn't particularly used to being around the three, he did join their table, not wanting to eat alone like a couple of others had chosen to.

Another person managed to surprise the four when she came to their table quietly.

"Could I... join you guys?" Before them stood the black-haired girl who easily dwarfed most others in height. Her attempt at a smile came slightly strained, but genuine, something which they noticed fairly easily.

The first to speak up in response was the redhead. "Valeria, right?" With her soft nod of confirmation, he looked to the others. "If nobody else has any issues, I don't see why not!" Their approval – or nearly imperceptible shrug, in Sutaa's case – gave the taller teen a little bit of pep as she sat next to the blue-skinned boy.

"So...", Ignatius started in an attempt to break the ice with the new arrival. "How'd you do in the entrance exam? I don't remember seeing you in our site." Valeria paused mid-bite, eyes looking at the empty seat to her right.

"I... accidentally bumped into the Villain", she admitted, not daring to look at their faces. "Mild weather manipulation, I think... there was definitely something about lightning. I'd rather not talk about that, but the principal said I did really well..."

The blonde, sitting across from her, perked up immediately. "Man, lightning? I wonder how we'd have done against them..." Sutaa gave a small grunt of annoyance in response, but said nothing else.

"We'd probably have more of an open area to work with...", Alora mused. "Maybe we could have hid better and struck at their blind spots?"

"Depends on how fast their controlled lightning is", Iggy replied. "Or if any of us could tank that lightning like how Sutaa took one of Crash's fists.." Another grunt was quietly heard.

"So, about the classes we have today...", Rayleigh spoke up, the start of a grin coming to life on his face. "How excited are you guys about finally trying out the Hero costumes later?"

Sutaa looked up from his meal, glancing at each of them before returning to keeping mostly silent. "Just hoping it fits." Next to him, Valeria said little else, unsure of how she could approach her own situation.

"Mom gave me some pointers with my design", the redhead noted, rubbing the nub where his finger once was. "I can't imagine it'll be perfect, but it should be better than the huge cape I thought of as a kid..." At this, the blonde's eyes widened, almost slightly offended.

"What's wrong with capes?" He dared ask, pointing an accusing finger at the pensive teen.

"Nothing at all", he replied, taking a deep breath. "It's just not my style nowadays, and I'd end up snagging it everywhere." Placated, Rayleigh held his hands up for a moment before resuming his meal, though Ignatius took the opportunity to turn to the blue-haired girl next to him. "What about yours, Alora?"

While caught a bit by surprise from being asked directly, the smaller teen was thankful to have a simple answer. "It's nothing special, works well with my Quirk."

"Oh yeah, the illusion thing", Rayleigh mused. "Simple costume means you have an easier time making duplicates of yourself, right?" With a nod in confirmation, he went back to eating, silence slightly forming but with quiet conversations between the table here and there.

Iggy's nerves slowly, but surely, felt like they were fading away over the course of the first day of classes.

Heroics class was notably last on their schedule for the day, compared to 1-β having it earlier. They noted the fact that the days alternated to allow students a bit more rest, which made a bit more sense with how heavy the periods seemed to be.

However, the fact that their teacher for the class and the room used was the same meant that the two classes crossed each other, which for Ignatius meant seeing Merri again.

His eyes widened at how battered she seemed to be, redness forming over a leg and the right side of her face. While he did stop in his tracks, words never came, but there was an easy conversation regardless. The redhead's brows raised in a question, she simply pointed ahead of her.

A black-haired boy with a buzz cut on each side cheerfully conversed with two others in his class, nearly uninjured. Iggy was left to wonder just what kind of Quirk the teen had to leave the strongest person his age he knew that injured. With nothing else to say, however, he offered a hand, which the purple-eyed girl took for a second before they parted ways.

The pause made him arrive last to the currently closed – but notably not locked – gym, with a small note on it. 'Change into your Hero Costumes and enter the gym at the allotted time when you're all here -Commando'

Not wanting to be late for his first Heroics class, he took off to the men's side of the locker rooms, nearly bumping into someone already leaving. Tall and fit, the dark brown hair slightly blended in with the dark blue eye mask, as well as the rest of the costume in the same colour. It was certainly unique, the chainmail shirt being quite unlike anything he had seen in a Hero costume before.

"Hurry up." Those two words were strict, but not bossy, a clear attitude behind them, leaving the redhead moving inside without wanting to talk more.

Most of the people there were finishing dressing up, between zippers and boots that needed a bit of extra adjustment, or the white jacket Beau adjusted for the fourth time to ensure it wasn't out of place before he was finally satisfied. Iggy directed his attention to the one unopened locker, the number 8 and his name proudly displaying on the black case, and a key next to it.

The key was taken, turned within the lock to open to the next step into becoming a hero: his costume. He felt the fabric between his fingers, a thumb rolling over the metal plating, a free hand feeling the visor he had requested. Notably, nothing he had requested was missing, meaning the teen could easily take the costume for a test drive without feeling out of place.

Putting it on felt not unlike trying on a shiny new Halloween costume. The sunset yellow gloves were cooler than the rest, the system clearly put in place, the boots of the same colour a bit tight, but nothing unmanageable, and something he always felt with new shoes either way. The red bodysuit and darker red metal plating was perfect, and the visor, while something he wasn't quite used to, did its work when he looked directly towards the light in the locker room and didn't have to wince.

In his thoughts, he nearly forgot why he was there in the first place, and made his way out, one of the last, but thankfully not late.

The class, all gathered, looked at the time, before one of them decided to push the door open to the second gym they entered that area.

If one was a marvel of technology directly fed to them through punching machines and vibrant tracks, this room was an indirect marvel through the sheer amount of buildings that it seemed to hold. Most stood tall, though more than a few were reduced to rubble that seemed, for the most part, quite unsafe for them to run through.

However, these only raised the spirits of the students. Maybe they could be the ones to level a building in a fight, or go through one in rescue exercises. Perhaps a bit of parkour would be in order to keep wits and agility sharp, or an obstacle course could be set up. Conversations started between the teens, eager to try out any and every idea that came to their head.

The talking stopped only when one of the more quiet classmates motioned to the man in the middle of the gym.

In front of them, a fairly muscular, brown-haired man in an armored tanktop and cargo pants, his outfit almost suited for military work rather than heroics if not for the beige colouring rather than the typical greens and browns of camo. His brown eyes stared the class down, unnerving them at the very least and slightly frightening them at worst.

"There's a saying that fits this line of work better than any other, 1-α." His voice was gruff and certain, one belonging to someone who'd experienced more than all of them combined. "As a hero, three things are never to be underestimated." He stayed in the same spot, but the class heard quiet shuffling around them, calculated with each step.

"Someone with nothing to lose." Feeling unease, some of the students stepped forward to protect those that seemed less capable.

"Someone who feels their loved ones are threatened." A few more perceptive teens managed to hear small clicks, but were unaware of what those clicks were... until they saw glints of tiny figures, shaped like infantry.

"And someone with their backs against the wall." At least three dozen figures were finally visible to the class, all of which held their weapons to the side, armed but not aiming at them.

"Welcome to Heroics. Today, you'll be the third category."