The teacher, Jem if the course catalog was correct, watched the swift creation of the talisman with indifferent eyes.
It was as if his eyes were saying, 'Of course it should be that easy. Anyone who can not make a single rune talisman that easily is a fool who should not be in here.'
But when he looked at the other finished talismans, there was disdain in his eyes. Especially when he saw those that had failed to produce a single, successful talisman.
"Alright alright. That's enough. The class is over and I will announce the results.
5 left and are therefore banned for the rest of this semester and next semester, 19 of you failed so you are banned for this semester and the next 3 after, 32 of you pass and will be enrolled in the class..." pausing up to here, most people had as expected looks on their faces.
Those who failed knew where they were lacking and did not feel as bad about being banned from the class since they were given a fair chance to prove themselves. A few were planning to secretly complain about the teacher to his higher-ups in private, but those were the minority.
No one was expecting the next sentence though.
"And one of you has brought out a talisman from their storage space after failing to create 18 talismans of 3 different runes. I will allow you to choose, arm or leg?"
No one spoke up or moved. Many shared the same thought, 'Only an idiot would tell on themselves right now.'
The smarter students, however, realized that teacher already noticed how many times the student failed and how many different runes they tried to use.
'He already knows who it is. He is just giving them a chance to beg for leniency.'
But none of this was Nyx or Mordred's concern. The pair walked out from the gazebo under the surprised gazes of the other students. Although they knew that the matter had nothing to do with them, they were still eager to see the conclusion of what happened.
Mordred and Nyx made their way to the class. It was in a field as well but it was still a decent walk until they arrived at the class.
Once the pair got there, they realized that they were 10 minutes early but did not bother about that.
This class was supposed to be in an open field with a few small fighting arenas and 10s of targets in the distance.
There were only 4 figures there but one of them caught the attention of Mordred and Nyx. The pair shared a look before walking directly up to her.
The others saw the group approaching but did not know how to act so they just stood there. Nyx grabbed the girl's arm the moment she was within reach.
"I just caught... a Yuki-Onna!" Nyx said with a slight smile on her face.
Mordred shook his head at her antics.
'I never should have given her that gamegirl to play with.'
Mordred focused on the girl in Nyx's grasp though. Pale, white skin along with white hair. The air near her seemed to be cold, showing that she was not used to her abilities yet and/or the strength of her abilities.
'She seems to be the one. Or at least one of the yuki-onna who have arrived this year. Even if I get it wrong, I won't come out as a loser in this transaction.'
"I am Mordred, SS rank Blue Oni with a Tier 8 system. Who are you?"
The girl looked puzzled when Mordred said his name but the moment she heard his rank and tier, an expression of shock and fear appeared on her face.
When she realized she had not spoken for several seconds, even more, fear showed on her face before she spoke up.
"Cassandra. I am a B rank Yuki-Onna," she hesitated before saying her class tier, "I have a Tier 2 class as a scout."
The others who were listening from the beginning or had just arrived sucked in a breath of cold air (haha) at the declaration. Those with low-tier classes were looked down on by everyone for two reasons.
The class tier determined the tier of ability books a person would be able to absorb. If a person was only a low-tier class, they could only absorb low-tier abilities and would have to work much harder to evolve their skills.
The second was restrictions or limitations. While higher-tier classes did not have to worry about restrictions, most low or middle-tier did. While there were exceptions, the lower one's tier, the more restrictions that would have before they would be able to even reach level 2. Some of the more unlucky beings would be stuck at level 1 their entire lives.
Mordred did not care about any of this though. His system was made for making lower-rank species more powerful by making them evolve to cover the rank divide as well as give them the esper sub-class. And once he mastered inscriptions, he would also be able to cover the tier divide by giving his weapons powerful abilities.
So at the end of the day, no matter who Mordred took in, they would become powerful. He needed those who had abilities besides their power. Tactical analysis prowess, indomitable willpower, creative minds.
Mordred could make any fool into a fighter. He wanted warriors and soldiers.
"Any powerful Yuki-Onna arrive this year? What about Tsurara-Onna?"
The girl looked disappointed that Mordred already stopped asking about her but was prepared for that once she mentioned her class.
"Only 1 other Yuki-Onna enrolled this year. My older cousin, Malory. She is a Tier-6 drake dragoon. The Tsurara-Onna had 2 enroll this year as well. I overheard my parents saying that they both had Tier-4 classes.
They should be the twins, Sophia and Noel. They are the only pair of tsurara-onna who should be the same age and enroll around this time. "
Mordred nodded toward Nyx who returned his nod before letting go of Cassandra and flying off to inform the others. She knew which classes the others were taking and which were currently in any.
Mordred continued to stare at Cassandra as if he was sizing her up, trying to figure out what to do with her.
'He probably is trying to figure out a way to leave the conversation without making himself look bad.'
But his next words shocked her and excited her at the same time.
"Work for me. You seem smart, at least smart enough to know how the world works. You were also able to decipher the meaning of my words and what to see without me saying too much.
I don't like speaking much so that is a trait that is good for me. So, work for me."