Chapter 112: Unnamed
In the Arcanum Blades Academy, they've implemented a whole new system right after the ICT.
No one in their wildest imagination ever thought Arcanum Blades would come out on top in that tournament.
And ICT was not a small deal.
It's where the strongest cadets from the entire human domain, representing all five continents, participate.
So winning that? Yeah, it was a major achievement.
Now, the Central Union was throwing lot of resources at Arcanum, and even the big entities like the Ministry of Education and the Gifted Youth Oversight Council (GYOC) were getting involved to oversee some upgrade plans for the institution.
After the ICT victory, changes have been made to the Academy's system.
First, based on the results of the unit tests and dungeon trials, students who did not made it up to the mark, got eliminated.
Originally, there were about two thousand students in the first year, but now only about a five-hundred remained.
The five classes, A1 to A5, got completely dismantled.
They threw that whole system out the window.
Instead, they came up with a new system where they created tiny units, each with only five students.
Each of these units was paired with an elite second-year student who will serve as their supervisor. And, the whole thing was overseen by the instructors, making sure everything was running smoothly.
The 2nd-years still had about four months left before they moved on to become hero cadets, where they'd be given actual official duties.
During those months, the elite students from the second-years had only two goals: complete assignments like killing a drug lord, clear a dungeon or eliminating rogue magic beasts.
And 2nd goal was to supervise 1st year's newly formed units.
One such elite of 2nd year was an 18 year old girl named Ahmya Xinzumi.
Ahmya looked at her tablet, checking out the list of first-year students she had to supervise as a unit.
The list contained names of 5 students:
1)Karthik Trivedi (Student rank 4)
2)Noah Grey (Student rank 10)
3)Kai Lee (Student rank 8)
4)Hannah Kovalyova (Student rank 298)
5)Nola Reinheart (Student rank 101)
"I need some dates...", Ahmya whispered almost to herself, her gaze fixed on the list before her.
Dates—Ahmya wasn't reffering to romantic outings or calendar entries.
No, it was nothing of the sort.
She simply meant date palm fruits.
You see, she had an insatiable craving for those delectable date palm fruits. It might sound odd, but it was her peculiar addiction.
Truth be told, any type of dried fruit could easily weaken her resolve. Especially those soaked in rich old alcohol and honey.
After carefully scanning the names of the students, her eyes abruptly fixated on one particular name.
There was no visible emotion on her face, but...
Noah Grey—the student's records were rather...bizarre.
"Someone with a registration of (F)... and privileges on the 9th level," Ahmya mumbled to herself.
She approached Vice-Principal Konstantine and asked, "Sir, why does he have special privileges?"
Offering nothing more than a dismissive wave of his hand, Konstantine simply replied, "Ah, don't concern yourself with that."
Ahmya closed the tab on her screen, her disinterest evident, before making her way to meet her assigned unit.
***
Ghrrk!—The room's door swung open, revealing the entrance of none other than Mung Joon, the second-place ranker of the whole first-year.
He had skin as smooth and shiny as porcelain, soaking up every beam of sunlight streaming in through the window.
His luscious locks, flowed down like a majestic waterfall.
Without missing a beat, Takahashi shot him a snide look, dripping with pure disdain. "What the heck are you doing here?"
Aurora and Emily couldn't help but steal glances at Mung Joon, their faces plastered with obvious surprise.
Aeravat, nestled at the back of the room. He didn't wear any dislike for Mung Joon on his sleeve like the rest of them did.
Aeravat simply didn't give a damn.
However, out of courtesy, he mustered a slight nod in Mung Joon's direction.
But, Mung Joon brushed off their collective stares, walking to the side of the classroom, pretending their existence was inconsequential.
Just then, a voice pierced through the silence, capturing everyone's attention. Simultaneously, an imposing surge of mana pressure, rating at a rock-solid (C+), filled the room.
"I am George Anderson," the voice declared with authority. "Ranked second among the students in second year. And guess what? I'm your supervisor now."
***
Ahmya Xinzumi strutted down the corridors.
As she neared the room, her icy expression underwent a subtle transformation, morphing into a faint warmth that gave birth to a soft smile.
She was smiling, yes— but it failed to reach her eyes.
Upon entering the room, Ahmya's gaze swept across the students of Unit 3, scanning their faces with scrutiny.
"Hello, boys," she chimed, her smile was still thin.
In the midst of her greeting, her eyes zeroed in on the two female students, prompting her to adlib, "And girls."
Karthik couldn't help but gawk at her in awe, his eyes practically popping out of his head.
Even the typically apathetic Kai Lee turned his head, instantly captivated by her presence.
Nola's eyes narrowed in a glare as she watched the unfolding scene.
Without missing a beat, a disgruntled grumble escaped her lips, barely audible to anyone around.
Ahmya, ever inquisitive, curiously asked, "By the way, where's Noah? Absent?" Her gaze slowly drifted towards the entrance.
Sensing the mention of Noah's name, Nola jolted from her seat, unable to contain her surprise. "Wait, are you talking about Noah Grey?!" she blurted out.
With a knowing smile, Ahmya confirmed, "Hmm, yes. He's part of this unit."
Before anyone could further question Noah's whereabouts, Vice-Principal Konstantine made his entrance.
Konstantine coolly said, "He won't be here for a few weeks."
"He's got some special privileges that exempt him from the attendance fuss."
As the other students rose from their seats, offering respectful bows in greeting to the vice principal, Ahmya's eyes transformed back to their calculating state, absorbing the information before resuming a small smile.
She swiftly shifted focus back to the main task at hand.
***
Noah's POV:
The scent of the creamy chocolate filled the air, tantalizing my nose.
"Eat!" Svetlana said, pushing a cupcake on my lips.
Grumbling, I attempted to protest, "How many times have I told you not to-" but before I could finish my sentence, Svetlana seized the chance and forcefully planted the cupcake into my still-speaking mouth.
In that fleeting moment, her fingers gracefully brushed against my lips.
A soft smile adorned Svetlana's face as she retorted with a rhetorical response, "Well, you you helped me too right?"
"That time you were all muddy. And you only asked me if I wanted some cupcakes, you didn't mention anything about... mmmphhmph..." I tried to retort, but Svetlana interrupted me by forcefully stuffing another bite into my mouth.
"Well, you were just as dirty! So, I was just helping!" Svetlana replied with an innocent, gentle smile.
"Blame your mom. She attacked me in the name of training," I replied, a hint of sadness in my voice as I looked sadly at my torn dress.
"Hehehmphap!" Svetlana burst into laughter, her hand covering her mouth as she struggled to contain it.
"I can see you laughing"—I glared at her.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I rested my head against my tucked left leg, while my right, stretched out, pointing towards the distant horizon.
We were both sat on the ground, green carpet beneath.
"You're too innocent," I murmured softly, my words barely audible in the gentle breeze.
Shifting my gaze to the side, I asked her with sincerity, "By the way, are you seriously joining Arcanaum?"
Svetlana replied, "Yes?" Her tone conveyed a notion of 'isn't it obvious?'
"Your mother can teach you everything about magic, you don't have to."
Arcanum was a place of attarcting chaos, where problems will follow the main cast.
No matter how strong Svetlana was, I didn't want to see her in danger.
She didn't have some special plot armor to protect her if things went wrong.
"But mother said it would be a valuable life experience. Plus, I want to enjoy a normal life too! And... and you'll be there too!" Svetlana replied, trying to persuade me and maybe even herself.
"You can't handle the blood and the gore, you know. Joining Arcanum means facing monsters and all that stuff."
"I'm aware of that! But isn't it expected in dungeon hunting?" Svetlana retorted.
"What about human blood? How would you feel about taking someone's life?" I posed the question, causing Svetlana to visibly falter.
"They've a very different carriculam in Arcanum. What if your assigned to eliminate someone... a drug lord or a bandit group? A human life."
Svetlana remained silent, her gaze fixated on the ground. "I am aware. I have never had my hands dirty, but I know enough how the world works"—she replied in a soft tone.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but ...if you are so adamant about joining you should at least know what's coming."
Later, I engaged in a conversation with her, taking the opportunity to caution against befriending anyone among the top six ranks. They were the main cast after all.
Svetlana didn't fully grasp my strange request, but she complied nonetheless when I insisted.
I watched the retreating back of Svetlana and stood up myself to go back to the manor.
Suddenly, Nano's mechanical voice resonated in my mind.
[Master, I need to inform you of something.]
My brow furrowed, "What is it, Nano?"
[You have just reached the epitome of Homo sapien biology.]
"Oh? Well... What are you waiting for? Initiate the Super Soldier program."
***
Unbeknownst to Noah, he had unknowingly become a topic of discussion within the halls of Arcanaum Blades Academy.
His rapid ascension in rank left the majority of people dumbfounded and skeptical.
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