"Hey Kyle what happened to you? I have only read that girls become more beautiful after giving their first time in those old novels from my grandpa's collection, but looking at you, I feel that for a change of this magnitude, you must have given your first time to dozens at the same.....ti-ti...." A boy said with an exaggerated expression conveying his shock.
Once Kyle understood where this loudmouth was going with his words, he immediately released his Monarch's Aura and stared straight at him.
Veldic, felt as if he was being stared at by something very dangerous which couldn't be described by normal standards. The gaze wasn't as threatening or murderous as that of beasts, instead it was calm. But it induced a fear from deep within his soul.
Veldic, who was only a second level ascender and lacked exposure to killing intents and powerful auras found himself being frozen out of an innate fear.
Kyle didn't keep his aura active for much long and immediately retracted it when he saw Veldic's face showing the slightest signs of paling.
"Hey I was just kidding. There isn't a need to be so serious. It was just a compliment." Veldic said while slowly moving his joints which had nearly frozen under Kyle's gaze.
"By the way, many seniors came to our classroom and asked us about the club you will be choosing in the past three days. So, have you decided which club you will be joining?" Veldic asked with a slight anticipation in his tone.
"If you have not joined any clubs, you can give a try to the club that I joined. This new club is founded by two of the new transfer students who, like us, are first years and only accept first years. And also, the club president is very strong. She is only a few months past sixteen, but has already reached the third floor."
"I don't think any of our seniors have achieved something like this when they were at this age. Some people say that she is even more talented than you. But of course, I believe that you are better." Veldic said while sneaking glances at Kyle.
"Since it is a club made up of only first years, won't other clubs create trouble for them if they act like this?" Kyle asked. Although this matter was usually avoided, senior students bullying their juniors had become more severe ever since the new education system was implemented.
Kyle didn't think that someone would be able to successfully run a new club which consisted only of the junior students without a substantial backing, especially when those established clubs had the backing of the guilds that were the rulers of this state or even some lower ranked continental level guilds.
"Yeah, that's the reason why most of the first years didn't even consider joining the new club, but only the club members know that we don't need to worry about it. The vice-president has a relative who is at a relatively high position in Ascendence Pletenen Although we know that those state level branches of Ascendence Pletenen aren't even comparable to state level guilds, but it is still an organisation that is comparable to those cross-continental guilds in some aspects. So even if someone dares to act unscrupulously, it is very likely that the organisations behind them may not support them if this matter escalates."
"Since your club hasn't told anyone about it, are you sure that you should be telling me this?" Kyle asked.
"Yes. Because I really want to invite you to join the club. If I am successful in inviting you to join the club, I will have better chances to get an official position
in the club." Veldic explained his reasoning. Anyone who scouted members with good potential had the chance to stand for official positions in the club and who in the class dared to
belittle Kyle's potential.
"Alright, we can talk about it later, the classes will be beginning shortly, so I have to see the class timetables to see if there are any remedy lectures." Kyle said while he continued walking towards the academic building.
The classes of the Ascender's Division were different from those regular classes. The teachers as well as the students of the Ascender's Division usually spent most of the time in the Ascension Temple, so for their convenience only three lectures of each subject were held in one week, sometimes even less.
Since ascenders were capable of improving their memorization and other aspects of learning simply by increasing their intelligence stats, the pace of these lectures was simply unimaginable to humans before the manifestation of the Ascension Temple.
At the same time, there were remedial classes for those who had been struck in some missions and unable to attend the regular classes.
These remedial classes were available as memory holograms of the original lecture and were available at all times. One could avail them by showing their location records through the school-issued wrist-band.
As long as they were in the Ascension Temple for the duration of the class, they were eligible to sit in the corresponding remedial class.
"Alright then, I will be waiting for your reply." After saying his piece, Veldic walked away. Kyle went to the faculty room to check the timetables and registered for the remedial classes for the last three days.
When he arrived in one of the Audio Visual rooms, there were three other students already seated inside. When the students looked at Kyle, two of them were shocked. These just like Veldic were the students who were familiar with Kyle and shocked by the change in his appearance. Kyle nodded to both of them and took his seat. Soon, the school bell rang and the memory holographic lecture started.
Throughout the duration of the lecture, Kyle felt someone's gaze locked on him who was repeatedly trying to scan him with the system interface.
'Once again, isn't he tired!' Kyle had an annoyed look on his face as he felt the similar feelings of a strange energy envelope hi for a brief second before disappearing. The two students who had nodded at Kyle before also had helpless smiles on their faces.
"Is something wrong?" A feminine voice asked as the hologram of the teacher looked towards Kyle.
Kyle glanced towards the fourth student in the class for a brief second before replying that nothing was wrong. The hologram nodded and continued teaching.
After this small episode, the boy didn't continue pestering Kyle. After the lecture was over, the boy was the first to leave the room while throwing a provocative look at Kyle and moving his lips without saying anything.
'Follow me.' This was what the boy said. Kyle understood it at once, but ignored it all the same.
"Hey Kyle, do you know him?" One of the remaining boys asked.
"No. Do you know who that was?" Kyle asked.
"Um..his name is Ryan Ashler. He is the vice president of that new club that is made up of only first years." The boy replied.
"I have heard that he has also reached the third floor of the Ascension Temple and that he has a powerful backing. It is because of his backing that he dares to openly scout for first years in front of the second year seniors." The second person added.
After making a casual chat with the two people Kyle left the classroom and almost reached the teacher's office to register for the second remedial lecture when he was intercepted in his way.
"Kyle Zehern right? Do you have some time for a small discussion?" A girl stood between him and the door to the door as she asked Kyle.
Kyle looked at Veldic who was standing beside the girl and nodding at him.
"Alright." Kyle replied as he walked behind the two of them and arrived in one of the classrooms dedicated to club activities.
"Your friend Veldic said that you haven't joined any clubs till now, so I am here to recommend our club to you. You should have been approached by other clubs of the school as well and as a newly established club, we can't provide you with all those benefits that they can give you."
"But I don't think that someone like you really requires those offers."
"How can you be sure that I don't require those offers?" Kyle interrupted her mid-speech. Although he really wasn't interested in those offers, it wasn't up to others to tell him that.
"With your results, you can definitely get those spots that they promise you even without joining them or even better. So, aren't their promises just providing you with something which is well within your reach? Although I admit that just like them, our club also lacks when it comes to incentives, we can make up for the lack of incentives to some extent by not having any form of seniority within our members. No matter how good you are, the senior members of the club will be given priority over you when it comes to benefits if you join those clubs."
"But since we have no seniors in our club, we can ensure that the priority is based on performance rather than seniority. So, what do you think?" The girl finished her speech with the same serious tone that she had started it with.
"I have three conditions. You can decide if you want to recruit me after you have listened to those." Kyle said with a serious expression.
The girl gestured to Kyle to go on.
"First, I plan to spend most of my time in the Ascension Temple, so you'll have to adjust the club tasks in such a way that I can get the tasks that do not clash with this. I am even willing to complete those tasks alone as long as this condition is met."
"Second, I just met your vice-president and he seems to have a grudge against me for some unknown reason and I also don't have any good impression of him either, so it's better if you avoid placing us in a team. Since it is related to your backing, you should consider it carefully. And lastly, I will make it clear to you that it is because of Veldic that I considered joining your club, so he should be given the credits for me joining your club."
The girl frowned for a brief second.