The speech which the president gave was much longer than what Druak had expected so Druak for the most part ignored what was said, most of which was just congratulations on entering the prestigious academy.
Once the speech was finished Druak started hearing names being called out. Which he paid no attention to till. "Druak." The president had just called Druaks name, causing Druak to look up at him.
Druak noticed there were 5 other individuals who were standing side by side next to the president, noticing this Druak slowly walked up the stairs towards the president. Once Druak was next to the president he went to shake his hand, as Druak noticed the other 5 had done the same, however as Druak pulled out his hand the president completely ignored him and called out the next person's name.
Druak had expected this but each time he was treated differently because of his status it still angered him, however it also gave him strength.
'I will teach you to fear and respect me, and you will bow down before me for forgiveness.' Druak thought as he glared towards the president.
As the ceremony continued more and more of the top 30 students were called up, unlike Druak, each had been acknowledged by the president. Druak had noticed a few of the students who were called up. One being Oscar who despite his amazing strength was only ranked 5th, meaning there were probably 5 students stronger than him.
The one who annoyed Druak the most was Krane Adder, who was the same student that shoved past Druak when he first entered the academy. Krane was ranked 9th and thanks to his name being called out Druak finally realised who this student would turn into.
Krane Adder was known as one of the most tyrannical and heinous nobles who participated in the Rose and Argonaut kingdom war. He had used the chaos of the war to capture and enslave his own people, doing terrible things to them just for the joy of it. The excuse that he used before being killed was that they were just servants and should feel honoured to be used for his enjoyment.
After massacring his own family and countless people he had finally been stopped by the kingdom however, they were far too late in stopping him, just because they didn't want to punish one of their own kingdom's nobles.
Druak merely glanced at Krane.
'I'll make a plan to get rid of you, and when I do I'll make sure you suffer as those you massacred did.'
The 4th and 3rd ranked student didn't interest Druak much, as in his past life he didn't recall hearing anything great about them. The interesting students came when 1st and 2nd ranked were called up.
"I would like to congratulate Freya Yemei for ranking second and being the highest staged support mage we have ever accepted within the first years." Everyone gasped in shock after hearing this, as this meant she was already in the 2nd stage despite being a support mage.
The reason why hearing this was so surprising was due to the difficulty of going up in stages for a support mage. Support mages had much weaker bodies than other classes within their stage, this made it much harder for their bodies to survive the process of going up in stage and often meant they had to make a lot more preparations beforehand. This led to support mages with high stages being incredibly sought after and oftentimes even kidnapped, and if they didn't work for that individual they were often killed or worse.
Unlike the other students, Druak was shocked for an entirely different reason.
"Wait, isn't she the girl I saved from those kidnappers." Druak blurted out, not realising he did so and the consistencies it could bring.
Almost instantly after Druak had blurted out those words, specific individuals glanced toward him. Druak couldn't notice all of them but there was one he couldn't not see. Kranes face turned toward Druak glaring straight at him with an enraged expression on his face and a fluctuation of his mana making it clear that he had set up the kidnapping; it also explained why Krane had constantly been staring at Freya ever since she entered.
'I guess I'm not gonna have a peaceful academy life. Not that I planned to anyway, especially after meeting so many interesting people." Druak always thought of himself as a rather peaceful person, this however was almost the complete opposite of what Druak actually was. As whenever Druak found something interesting he couldn't help but want to learn more about it, almost always causing him to get into trouble.
The chatter of the students became louder and louder, as they spoke about a 2nd stage support mage being in their year and how surprising it was.
"We have to get her on our team as fast as possible."
"Not a chance, she's joining our team."
"Look at how pretty she is."
Constant chatter enveloped the hall, almost to the point that you couldn't even hear your own thoughts. Druak looked towards Freya who had now completely covered her face and was shaking in fear. Druak had noticed the shaking ever since she entered the hall, which had only gotten worse once everyone started talking about her.
*Bang*
"SILENCE!!! This is a ceremony and I will not have all of you disrespect it. If another one of you is caught speaking again I will have you removed from the academy." Surprisingly, despite the president seeming to care greatly for nobles, he would still remove them if it meant protecting the academy's reputation.
The president realigned his tie, which had been ruffled up, and then continued on with the ceremony as if nothing had happened."The student which has been placed in 1st place has achieved something that has never occurred within our kingdom, she has achieved the 3rd stage of her class at only 17 years old and will be marked in history as the youngest 3rd stage class holder ever to enter our academy. Raya Vermillion!!!"
Completely unfazed by what was said, Raya slowly approached the president, as she coldly glanced at the students below her, a hint of disgust could even be seen on her face.
The president reached out his hand to shake however Raya merely looked at it then looked towards the resident and walked away, as if the president wasn't worth her time or respect at all.
The president's face contorted ever so slightly as he muttered."Arrogant brat."
What made this even worse was when Raya approached Druak, who was the only commoner among the rankers.
Slowly she approached him, her cold gaze seeming to pierce straight through him. "I need to talk to you in private. Meet me near the arena tomorrow morning… And make sure you're not followed." After whispering in his ear she walked towards the side and sat down, her cold gaze glancing over all the ranked students, which unlike her were still standing.
The ceremony had finally concluded and it was finally time for Druak to learn what the president needed to speak to him and the other 29 rankers about. What made Druak even more interested was that only the top 30 students were allowed to know so it was probably information that was incredibly valuable or an item of equal value.
Slowly Druak, along with the students, followed behind the president which was leading them to his office. It seemed that most of the rankers knew one another as they were constantly talking amongst each other, this didn't surprise Druak as noble families always had gatherings and since these students were the strongest of their generation it was rather normal for them to interact.
"Did you notice that they let a commoner into the top 30. What are they thinking."
"I wouldn't worry too much. He's just a commoner; we can get rid of him whenever we want."
Almost all the students were talking about Druak and some had even mentioned he had only gotten in by luck and would soon be kicked.
As Druak continued walking he felt someone gently tap his shoulder, almost to the point he didn't even feel it. Turning around Druak see a slim girl young looking girl, and despite her modest purple dress, it was still obvious that she had an incredibly attractive figure.
Her green hair almost completely covered her face however she moved it slightly out of the way to speak, revealing a gentle yet attractive face. "H.. Hi. I'm Freya Yemei. I... I wanted to thank you for saving me from those kidnappers, and I wanted to properly introduce myself… Anyway, thank you and bye." She quickly turned around and started rushing away from Druak.
Despite noticing how scared she was Druak still reached out his hand and grabbed her wrist, stopping her from running away. "Wait. You can't keep running away. At least tell me why they were after you…"
But before Druak could get an answer the sound of the president's door echoed throughout the hall, informing Druak that they were about to enter the president's office.
Druak looked toward Freya. "After this is over can you tell me why they were after you. I might be able to help if you do."
A glint of surprise and hope shone in Freya's eyes as she thought.'Maybe he's different. Maybe he actually wants to help me and isn't just after me for my class.' However, she quickly pulled her hand away, nodding her head as walked into the president's office, ignoring Druaks offer of help. She had been hurt and lied to far too many times to trust anyone, including Druak.
As she walked away Druak let out a sigh. "Hfff. Nothing I can do. At least I offered to help, if she still wants it I'm sure she'll look for me."