"Hmm? Why is there such a huge commotion?"
It had been a week or so since I had received the offer from Alicia Violet in the library, and rejected it, but things went on as usual. I still had yet to shape my basic summoned beasts, which kind of sucked, but was understandable.
It took me four years of home-study and a further year of intense studying in Jing Tian Magic Academy before I finally mastered the advanced summoned beasts that I currently possessed. Normally it would take me maybe two or three years to get the basic, weakest summoned beasts done, but now that I already had the experience and skill to master summoning magic – particularly having achieved the advanced ones – it should take me a little less time. Six months at most…if I was intelligent enough, I could even cut it down to three months.
But a week was obviously too much to ask for.
Nonetheless, I wasn't worried. It was all right to take it slow. Rushing through one's training would result in careless mistakes and backfire. I didn't want to waste a few months crafting my next summoned beasts, only for them to emerge…not all right.
In the meantime, I was going to just attend school as per normal. This time, I made sure to enroll in a combat magic class. Even though it had only been a week or so, it appeared that Dad was correct in ensuring that I had a solid foundation in combat techniques. All I needed to do was apply the right moves to the relevant spell and I should be able to…
"Whoa!"
"Who's that?"
Right…the commotion. I needed to stop drifting off into my own world and take note of what was happening in the real world. While I entered through the front gates, I caught sight of a strange but magnificent procession.
An expensive-looking coach was trucking through the front gates, with an exquisite emblem emblazoned over its luxurious frame. Rolling to a stop, the doors unfolded and several steps descended to the ground.
Bloody hell, the inside of the bus, as well as those mechanical steps, was all carpeted in a rich layer of silk-like fabric!
The students of Jing Tian Magic Academy gaped in awe as the passengers disembarked from the luxurious coach. They appeared to be the same age as us, but they were all dressed in a different uniform. Unlike the gray and black school uniform of Jing Tian Magic Academy, the students were dressed in white and gold uniforms, with black pants and skirts.
"That's…"
"Who are they?"
"Amazing…"
The students all gave off an imposing air as they strode majestically and somewhat arrogant down the path leading to the main building of our school.
"I recognize that school badge and uniform! They are from the Crowley's Grand Arcane Academy!"
"Ah! Isn't that the well-known academy that's ranked within the top ten of the Federation?"
"That's right!"
"My goodness…that's the Invincible Goddess of War, Cecilia Stuart!"
"Cecilia Stuart? The Invincible Goddess of War? She's so strong that no one in her generation can defeat her. I remember she said that the first boy in our generation who can defeat her will be the only one worthy enough to be her fiancé!"
Whoa…what arrogance. I did hear about that before, though. Apparently countless guys had challenged her in order to win her heart, but not a single one had defeated her…yet. Honestly, that wasn't my idea of romance, but it had nothing to do with me. I couldn't even defeat anyone in my school, let alone the legendary Invincible Goddess of War (who came up with that dumb nickname anyway?).
"Isn't that Hal Gunther? What is he doing here?"
"Oh my God…that Gunther? The Phantom Hunter? He's terrifying…!"
"Whoa…the Great Wall, Chang Cheng! I didn't think we would get to see such legends here!"
Honestly, the names meant nothing to me, but I was vaguely aware of what a big deal it was to be within the top ten of the Global Federation. As I said, our Jing Tian Magic Academy was currently ranked eighty-second. These dudes were at least seventy places above us. That meant there was quite a significant gap in power.
Fortunately, I didn't give a fuck about school rankings and competition. I couldn't afford to. even in my relatively lowly-ranked school (but at least we were still among the top hundred in the Global Federation, so it wasn't all that bad), I was ranked dead last. So never mind academy ranking, I had to worry about my own damned ranking first, especially if I wanted to stay here.
"…hah…"
Suddenly feeling tired, I decided to avoid the unexpected visitors and take the longer route to my classroom.
Taking up an unoccupied seat in the corner of the classroom, I slumped over my desk. The first class of today was combat magic – like I said, I made sure to sign up for it this time. On the other hand, I felt isolated. I was one of the very few second-year students taking the basic combat magic course – the majority of the other students were all first-year students who hadn't been around for more than a week at most.
The first-year students were wise enough to avoid us second-year students, mostly because we were perceived as the "failures"– usually only those who dropped out of the class halfway, or failed the course last year would retake it. Some, like me, had opted to take it in our second year, but obviously the age gap would set us apart from the other students.
Those in the last group, like me, usually belonged to the misfits or the socially inactive students who weren't in any cliques and therefore didn't participate in the class with a pre-established circle of friends and thus we weren't familiar with anyone in the class. That led us to keeping mostly to ourselves while every other classmates gathered in their friendly little circle.
Fine by me. I wasn't here to make friends anyway. I was here to learn combat magic and find a way to make up for my weaknesses in specializing in summoning magic.
Unfortunately, even the usual classes didn't seem to go my way today. The moment the homeroom teacher, Teacher Fielding, stepped into the classroom, he waved at us grumpily to dismiss us.
"There won't be class today," he announced somewhat unhappily. The students all glanced at each other, somewhat caught off guard by the sudden declaration. Teacher Fielding's combat magic classes were pretty popular, and thankfully I had the fortune of being a second year student, and thus I was able to book the class in advance of all the first year students. Needless to say, everyone was looking forward to the class and getting some action before the more…boring classes that tended to be less hands-on.
"Eh?"
"Really?"
"…no way…"
"As you've probably already heard, we have a few visitors coming over from Crowley's Grand Arcane Academy today. A sort of a student exchange. They are here on a field trip to see how other academies run their training programs." Teacher Fielding continued as if he didn't hear the moans from his students. I knew him well enough to detect the bitterness in his voice. Evidently he wasn't pleased with these field trips from such prestigious schools. No doubt they were conducted to show these elite students from these stuck-up academies how not to run training programs, and so that they could return and share how we were doing everything wrong.
That piqued some of the students' interest. They were all straightening up and staring at Teacher Fielding curiously.
"They also want to experience the skills of our students," Teacher Fielding continued heavily.
"Eh?! But aren't they in the top ten academies of the Federation?"
"Why would they want to experience our skills?"
"To pick on us and laugh at us, of course!" one of the most astute students growled angrily. Everyone fell silent.
Teacher Fielding didn't refute that. Instead, he merely shook his head and sighed.
"The academy director has issued instructions – all students are to proceed to the main hall immediately. There will be no classes today. We will be engaging in a…cultural discussion with these elite students, and hopefully we can learn something from them."
From the way he said it, he obviously didn't believe it himself. He was aware that these elite students were here to show off by crushing the students here. I recalled a similar exchange taking place last year. Our seniors were all destroyed by just two students from an elite academy…if I recalled, it was also this Crowley's Grand Arcane Academy. Yeah…the uniforms were identical, but it took place quite a while ago, so I had forgotten their school badge and the name of their academy – especially since it had nothing to do with me.
I later learned from the seniors that it was a tradition. The first-year students were still unaware of what was happening, but the second-year students and repeat students still had fresh memories of the humiliation we suffered last year.
Was this some sort of annual tradition for those Crowley students or something?
"Anyway, let's not waste time. Gather in the main hall. Up you go." Teacher Fielding clapped his hands impatiently, and the students obeyed, the first-year students still mostly dazed from the unexpected activity.
We filed into the corridor, joining the flow of other students in Jing Tian Magic Academy, streaming ceaselessly into the main hall. The main hall also served as some sort of arena – the biggest arena of our school, actually. In the center of the main hall, which resembled a stadium, was a massive platform that doubled as a stage and coliseum. Thousands of seats ringed the rectangular stage in a 360 degree fashion, and the stage itself was two hundred meters long and a hundred meters wide.
Already the academy director was present with a few of the staff, and they were speaking to the teacher-in-charge. At first I didn't recognize him, but I caught the badge that was pinned to his white breast pocket. The teacher was wearing a white suit with a pink shirt inside, which contrasted nicely with the white and gold uniforms of his students, and all the more emphasizing the badge that was an identical capture of the Crowley school emblem.
He was currently speaking to the teachers from our school, who had strained smiles on their faces. In contrast, the teacher had a mocking smile and an oily attitude. I couldn't hear their conversation from this distance, but I could tell that he was trying to make jokes…probably at our poor teachers' expense.
Seated in the center of the large stage were the entourage from Crowley. A single beautiful girl stood out from the other students, her long black hair flowing slightly in the artificial wind generated by the air purifiers in the main hall. Her beauty rivaled even that of Alicia Violet, and I could see why people labeled her as a Goddess.
But this was no Goddess of Beauty. She was the Invincible Goddess of War, Cecilia Stuart, heiress to the wealthy Stuart Clan who owned multi-trillionaire corporations across the Global Federation.
Beside her was a group of male and female students of varying statures, but every single one of them emanated an imposing aura. Even though I kept mostly to myself, I recognized a few of them because they had appeared on the Internet before. These were the representatives of Crowley Grand Arcane Academy, selected from among the most elite of elites, the cream of the crop who fought on behalf of their school in the annual national tournament of young mages.
The academy director, Vincent Violet, cleared his throat after all the students and staff of Jing Tian Magic Academy took their seats around the stage. A gigantic hologram appeared above him, magnifying his image so that everyone could take a good look at him.
"Thank you all for coming, everyone." Director Violet forced a smile. "Today, we have the honor of receiving guests from the esteemed Crowley Grand Arcane Academy."