Unknown to us, Jake had already started shivering upon entering the dining hall. The hostile glares from all the students of higher abilities had made him even more frightened.
He didn't dare to ignore the unspoken hierarchy set in this place.
Wang's eyes squinted as he said, "What?! Are you scared of them? They won't dare to do anything to us!"
"N-No... sorry! But I really am not too hungry right now!"
Continuing with his earlier excuse, Jake remained persistent in the face of Wang. The latter was about to say something more, when I stepped up and said, "Okay, Jake… It looks like you won't be dining with us then. See you later in the dorm!"
Without any remorse, I waved Jake goodbye and pulled Wang with me.
Unlike Wang, I at least understood where Jake was coming from. While people might not dare to beat a noble, a F-rank poor student was free game.
The revenge would definitely be targeted at me and mostly Jake.
How could a noble like Wang, who would get away scot-free, understand the circumstances of the unfortunate?
I didn't bother explaining this to Wang who now looked at Jake with a hint of derision. He definitely thought Jake was not a reliable person.
Observing us leave without really saying much, Jake's jaw clenched with anguish. He himself thought for a moment that he was a cowardly scum.
Even though he wanted to join his roommates for a fun lunch, he gritted his teeth and walked to an empty table in the distance.
"Tsk… This proves that low-rankers are always cowards!"
"Bahahah! At least he gets to live with his dog life! Though one should just suicide if they're born with such a low-rank and our so cowardly at the same time?"
"Anyway, do you think the second-years would do anything to the C-ranker though?"
"He's so handsome and brave…! I'll definitely comfort him when he's beaten and make him my boyfriend!"
Hearing the murmurs from the student body, Jake felt even worse.
'Why did I have to born like this?' He thought to himself.
…
I was about to grab a table for Wang and me when I took note of a person in the distance.
It was the silver-haired girl, Sylvia, who was eating by herself.
Her icy demeaner and a S-rank tag had probably scared off the countless males who should have been courting her.With my mouth curling into a wide grin, I headed towards Sylvia.
Wang's face fell as he realized my intentions. He wanted to sit elsewhere but he still decided to follow. He just hoped Sylvia would drive them away without too many complications occurring.
Sylvia's eyes flashed as she noticed two presences closing in on her vicinity. Her brows only relaxed when she noticed it was only us two from before.
"What the hell are you two doing here?!"
"Of course, we're sitting with our beautiful boss!"
Before she could say anything, I quickly grabbed the chair and sat down in front of Sylvia. I made sure to also make the reluctant Wang take a seat next to me.
Black lines formed on the Sylvia's forehead as she yelled, "No one gave you permission!"
"But we have to make sure to accompany our boss!" I replied, my voice firm.
"That is just your damn fantasy! I'm not your boss!"
"Oh C'mon… We only know you here and have no friends!"
"How's that my problem?!"
I continued to give Sylvia a pitiful look who tugged on her bottom lip with a little hesitation. "Fine, just don't be annoying or talk to me!"
Sylvia returned her focus to her food. Her table manners looked especially elegant as she dined on her salad and steak for lunch.
"Okay!" I exclaimed happily and focused my attention on my plate for the next minute.
Contrary to my expression of joy, Wang's face distorted a little. He was also surprised though, since he didn't expect Sylvia to allow them to sit with her.
He focused his attention on his food but couldn't help but frown upon sensing the colder temperature around the table. 'Does this Roland family's bitch do this on purpose?!'
We sat quietly for a minute, before I got bored and gazed at Sylvia. "Hey Sylvia, what did you do all day after the exam?"
"None of your business…"
Sylvia's indifferent reply clearly was not enough to stop my barrage of questions.
"What classes did you sign up for?"
"None of your business."
"How were your roommates? Are you excited to room with them this year?"
"No…! And none of your business!"
Since it looked like this little princess wasn't in the mood to talk, I turned my attention to Wang.
"So, any interesting classes you signed up for?"
"Huh, me?" Wang rubbed his chin and then said, "I guess the ability-combat class. I'll get to vent there at the very least... What about you?"
"I chose the weapons combat class instead."
"Hmm, that's a useful class. The quality of beast weapon artifacts is improving more than ever; their power is almost on par with abilities if not better... Who is the professor you were assigned though?
At Wang's question, I pulled up a tablet from my bag and displayed my class schedule. It wasn't too weird for him to ask since most students, unlike me, had beforehand knowledge about the instructors in the school. Many of them would take that into serious consideration when choosing a class.
Soon a name 'Mr. Carson Smith' appeared in my tablet's screen.I didn't think anything of it all, but all a sudden, both Wang's and the peeking Sylvia's jaw dropped in surprise.
"How?!" They both simultaneously yelled.
I scratched my face in confusion. What was up with their reaction?
Soon Wang was the first one to snap out of his stupor. 'I knew from the start Soren was special!' Realizing that I was still in the dark, he cleared his throat and then began his explanation.
"Kuhum... Kuhum... You probably don't know but Carson Smith is a military hero and also the best instructor in this academy by far! His students often go on to become guild leaders or high-ranking military officers themselves."
I leaned back on my chair with a relaxed smile as I said, "Ha, I guess I lucked out then eh"
"No, Soren, it's not luck! Mr. Smith is a guest professor who only hands out a few spots each year to the students he finds suitable... His class is also special since he provides unique training to each student according to their abilities. It's a much tougher class with a high failure rate, but it is totally worth it! You don't understa-"
Right then, Sylvia's voice resounded in our ears, the lack of composure in it evident.
"How did you get into his class?! You're only a C-rank...! Even I didn't get the opportunity!"
Wang snarled when he heard Sylvia didn't get into the class. 'Serves you right!'
In the meantime, my lips had curled downward into a frown as I thought about why a C-rank student like me was selected by this 'military hero.'
The reason I had selected a weapon-based combat class in the first place was because I didn't want to eventually reveal the real power of my ability through carelessness.
Now, some random old fogey wanted to give me specialized training. This was clearly a little unfortunate and fishy.
'What does he want...?'
I eventually gave up my thoughts and turned towards Wang.
"Why don't you join his class too, Wang?"
Wang shook his head and then said, "It's hard to be selected in his class even if you're a noble. Unless someone else offered me their spot, it would be less than a 50/50 chance for me. More importantly, our family practices a unique saber art that is a secret. We don't want it to be revealed to those military dogs through being weapon trained by someone!"
Since Wang didn't want to be part of this class, I turned my gaze to Sylvia. She had pressed her lips together firmly as she stared at me with envy.
It seemed like she really wanted to be part of this class.
Soon I operated my tablet for a few moments and then made eye-contact with Sylvia.
"What are you looking at?!" Sylvia yelled, clearly a little spiteful of my luck.
"Check your notification...."
Sylvia turned her head down to see a notification flashing in her wristwatch. Almost the same instant she read through it, her chin trembled with excitement.
"Why're you giving me your spot?!" She asked, her voice extremely eager at this moment.
Mr. Smith had approved trading of spots, since he didn't want unmotivated students to enroll in his class. After all, there were always talented but lazy students who would rather not put the effort with a huge risk of failing.
"I don't want to work my ass-off just to possibly get an average grade from this person... I am only a C-rank and would rather enroll with another easier professor!"
I stretched my arms out and yawned, pretending as though the matter didn't make much of a difference to me.
Of course, the main reason I was doing to be a little more low-key. It was really laughable how much attention I was drawing to myself lately.
"No, you will regret this! I can't take this spot from y-"
"I guess you don't want it. I'll see who wants to trade with me in the school forums then."
Before I could retract my trade, Sylvia yelled "No, wait!"
Sylvia bit her nails with a little hesitation. She didn't want to accept such a favor, but she really needed to get stronger. Her mood had been off the entire day when she learned she wasn't enrolled in Mr. Smith's class.
She really wanted it...
Finally, she gritted her teeth and said, "Fine, only if you're about to drop the class anyway... A-And I'll return this favor one day!"
Quickly, Sylvia accepted the offer and our schedule soon reflected the changes in our instructors.
"Bahaha! You don't need to return the favor. It was just your good luck... Or maybe it was my good luck to trade it with someone as cute as you!"
Sylvia turned her slightly flushed face away from me.
"Hmph, shameless! You can keep your spot if you're going to say such stuff!"
While I continued to Simp over Sylvia, tears threatened to drip out of Wang's eyes. Even if he had no intention of joining the class, he hated seeing someone from the rival family getting stronger. 'Soren, are you my friend or my enemy?!'
Wang kept his complaint in his heart though, since he knew that he didn't have too much of a right yet to interfere with how I handled my dealings.
I discussed a few more things with Wang, and I would also get Sylvia to give me the occasional reply. It seemed her mood had improved heavily after securing a spot in Mr. Smith's class.
Just like this, we finished our lunch peacefully.
...
A little later after finishing lunch...
Sylvia had already left, and I had bid farewell to Wang temporarily. I had wanted to walk around the campus alone with my thoughts for the time being.
When I was exiting the dining hall, I saw the reflection of Jake at the corner of my eyes.
He was sitting by himself, all dejected because of his actions. There was clear indication that he was not taking this isolation because of his rank too well.
Without giving Jake another look, I walked through the dining hall gate.
At the end of the day, it was just not my problem.
I neither cared of Jake's fate nor was I powerful enough to change the society.
Yet for unknown reasons... My head had suddenly begun to throb with a queer pain.
It was like some voices in my head were telling me that I should have done something about it... Like I should have punished the bad people involved
'I am already such a good person, so why am I feeling this way?!'' My jaw clenched tightly as I walked down the hallway of the academy building.
**
In an office space at one of the top floors in the Citadel Academy Tower, a man was sitting on his chair with an exquisite looking katana in his hands.
If Soren were to be here, he would have recognized him as the indifferent middle-aged man who had helped him, and a few others register in the exam earlier.
As this man was observing the shine on his katana, a repeated Drrring- noise appeared on the screen of his desktop.
The man gently laid his katana to the side and answered the call. As soon as he tapped the answers button, a projection appeared which displayed another old man who was wearing a formal Alliance coat.
Many students of the academy would have recognized this man as the principal of the academy.
Currently, this old man had a fawning and respectful face as he stared at the middle-aged man.
"Hello, Mr. Smith! I heard you took some time of your busy schedule to conduct an ability exam yourself. Hopefully you didn't find their meagre talents too bad… Hehehe."
The middle-aged man, Mr. Smith, stroked the end of his mustache as he replied, "No need to be so polite, Wells… And I did find a few interesting things in the exam"
"That's great!" Principal Well nodded in satisfaction and then added, "We need you this year to train the first years for the annual military school competition... The war with the Insho race is ever approaching, and there is no better time than now for our school to rise in the ranks! Also, the person you were interested in was the S-rank girl from the noble Roland family, right? I saw you include her in your class list. I'm sure she will be a great ass-"
Thud…!
Almost immediately, Mr. Smith cancelled the call and began to check his laptop for information.
He never accepted Sylvia, so who was the one who dared to exchange their spots with hers?
It was the first time where he had encountered a situation where the student gave up on his class before the vigorous training even began.
Soon a file was pulled up in his laptop, displaying a an image of a boy with C-rank talent.
"So, it's that kid!"
Smith muttered a few things as he began to ponder by himself.
Soon his lips curled upwards as he thought, 'Your darkness ability is not getting away from me!'
Normally, he would never do this... But Smith really thought well of the potential he saw in the student.
Click-Click-
Smith instantly began to use his authority to make changes in Soren's class schedule.
With Soren completely in the dark, he was in for a nice surprise.
**
In the hallway, a group of three students, two girls and one guy, had cornered a girl. The cornered girl had a D-rank, while the surrounding students had a C-rank.
The cornered girl was somewhat petite and had shoulder-length pink hair with pink eyes. She had an adorable face that couldn't help but make both men and women want to protect her.
Yet the behavior of the surrounding students currently was far from being protective of this girl.
Thud...!
Grabbed by her collar, the pink hair-girl was pushed into the wall with force.
The girl who did so had a very ugly scowl on her face right now.
"You, bitch! Did you use your vile body to seduce my Randy?! How else would he have gone for a D-ranked girl like you?"
The pink-haired girl shook her head and stuttered, "I-I didn't even know, Randy! He just randomly asked me out today, before I rejected him... L-Let's stop here before someone seriously gets hurt...!"
At the moment, the other girl stepped up. She was looking at the pink-haired girl's skin complexion with a downturned mouth.
In her heart, she wished that she could burn that soft looking skin she could never have.
"This bitch must have some charm ability she used on Randy! Why else would he leave my friend for you?"
"Yes, she's a slut! Let's teach her a lesson." The guy from the side added, a sly smile on his face.
The guy licked his lips as he stared at the girl's bountiful breasts. He had already decided he would come back to her later alone and get 'services' in exchange for protection.
In a few seconds, the guy's entire body began to shine with a metallic luster.
He cracked his fist together and took strides towards the pink-haired girl.
The other two girls watched from the sides with a twisted expression, full of glee.
Just as he was to throw a punch to the pink-haired girl's stomach, Swoosh- a guy appeared from thin air in front of him.
Everyone had their eyes opened wide as they stared at this new person.
With blood-shot eyes and an evil grin, Soren said, "See, I told you I was good person engaged in doing some good deeds!"