"I'm not against it, but why?"
Russell asked his younger sister even though he already has an idea about her possible answer.
"...Hmm, well... Oppa, I want to fight strong people, you know. And... it will be my first time since I'll fight someone other than Mom, Dad, or you."
Although Freya has a fierce personality when it came to most people, she's not the kind of person who wanted to fight someone out of nowhere; rather, she's deciding on something when there's a purpose, not with triviality.
Russell knew that the participants who wanted to become part of the Disciplinary Committee would have the skills and talent, but it's not his concern, but rather, Arthur Wolfson, the Student Council President.
If Freya became a part of the Disciplinary Committee at any chance, interaction with the Student Council President was something unavoidable, even though there were the major characters flocking in the Student Council.
'I don't want to use my younger sister just to make slight connections or interfere with those bunch, and I also don't want to restrict her to do what she wants...'
"Well, about that, you can just fight your older brother, you know."
He smiled and spoke nonchalantly — referring to himself in a third-person point of view — after they finished their meal.
With his nonchalant, somewhat carefree way of speaking, Freya laughed softly, with obvious pre-existing reasons.
"Hahaha! Oppa..."
He's weaker than her, but due to the very unexpected circumstances that had transpired; from the existence of the Chaos Training Grounds; it would be a great shock if Freya came to know that his older brother became rather strong than he usually was with a very short amount of time.
"Haha, I'm just kidding! Anyway, go for it. I'll watch over you."
Russell spoke casually before the two of them checked the "two" of the announcements posted on the Obelisk Website.
...
– Disciplinary Officer Trial Exam
Registration: This day, 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. only.
Limit of Entry: 40 students.
Rank Qualification for Entry: F- to C+
Venue: Obelisk Public Training Grounds.
Where to Register: Student Council Office
Event Schedule: June 06, after the lunch break.
– Electives and Clubs
Registration: June 06, 4:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M
Where to Register: For Electives, Obelisk of Virtual Technology Building; For Clubs, Obelisk Auditorium.
Reminders:
— Only two Electives per student. [Mandatory]
– Only two Clubs per student. [Optional]
...
1:15 P.M., At the door of the Student Council Office.
"Uhmm... hello? Miss...? May I ask where's the exact section to register for the Disciplinary Officer Trial Exam?"
After some rest and quite a distance of walking, Freya and Russell arrived at the front door of the Student Council Office where a woman with mid-length green hair, and light yellow eyes under semi-rimless eyeglasses was sitting on a chair just beside the Student Council Office's door; this caused Russell and Freya to ask the woman in question, rather than knocking on the door.
"Ah! Yes, yes! Good afternoon! What can I help you with?"
As if the woman was shocked by their presence due to her tapping on her laptop, seemingly unaware of the surroundings.
'What a hardworking kid...'
Russell thought before the woman continued to speak.
"If you are going to register; state your name and which class and year you are from.
"Fortunately, there are at least 3 slots left, 1 if the two of you participate."
'That's quite fast, it's only been 15 minutes since the registration opened...
'Well, I guess there is the kind of several students who wanted to become a Disciplinary Officer... for an obvious reason."
In the unpublished novel he had written, power was the most important basis of one's standing in society, and with this little bit of power that being a Disciplinary Officer provides, abuse of authority was something that was not out of the question.
"Freya Moon, A-1 class, first year."
Tap. Tap
"Freya Moon, A-1 class, first year."
The woman, who's one of the representatives of the second year, typed on her laptop. She then looked at Russell, waiting for his response.
"No, no, I'm not participating."
Russell replied, while Freya just looked at him, not questioning why.
"Alright then. Freya, right... so, the rules will be explained to you tomorrow before the trial exam starts. Good luck!"
The woman said with a faint smile as though she was fed up with her job.
...
The next day, Russell and Freya were walking around the Obelisk Public Training Grounds.
It's a massive training ground that's available to every student, and mostly used when the subject was about physical training like the Player Physical Education (PPE).
There were five arenas inside that were made of solid material; four of which had the same dimensions and were situated on the four corners of the training ground, while the remaining one was more massive than the other four and it's situated in the middle; this one was mostly used for mock battles.
"Oppa, it's 10 minutes remaining."
Freya seemed restless that she kept tracking the time with her smartwatch.
"Don't be nervous, okay? Just do your best."
Russell cheered her up genuinely.
"By the way, Freya, come closer."
His next words confused Freya's face as she cocked her head to the side, regardless, she did what she had just told.
Russell's action caused his younger sister to feel bewildered; he gently patted Freya's head three times.
...
[Activating Skill: Mark of the Night (EX)]
[Your Trait: Nihility has completely concealed the Chaos Aura.]
[You have successfully used the Skill: Mark of the Night (EX) to the designated target.]
[You can now track the target's location.]
[You can now feel the target's situation if the target is in danger.]
[You can now teleport to wherever the target goes.]
...
[Mark of the Night]
One cannot escape the "cosmic eyes" of the [Night of Primordial Chaos] as "She" always takes care of those relevant to "Her".
Rank: EX
Classification: Skillbook
Effects:
- Using the Skill: Mark of the Night to someone, you can track the location of the marked target, and teleports to the target whenever the player desires. It could alarm the player when the marked target is in a dangerous situation.
- Activation Condition: Pat's the head of the target.
- Teleporting Condition: Through the player's thought.
...
'That's one.'
Russell remembered to use the Skill: Mark of Night to his younger sister and parents soon, but this opportunity was given to him to do such a thing.
With his Trait: Nihility, his Chaos Aura was concealed before it even seeped out of his body, and he felt like the Nihility was more than just concealment.
'If there's a delay in concealment, the academy would surely think that there's a monster inside the premises. Those figurative monsters would have surely detected it.'
He thought of the players that were in the realm of S rank, working in the Obelisk Academy.
...
"O-Oppa...?"
She didn't know how much time had passed, although she was aware that it's been less than a minute.
Freya wore a shocked expression at her older brother's action. When they were kids, Russell occasionally patted her head unlike when they were in their early teens just like this moment.
"Good luck."
Russell said as he looked at her, and smiled.
...
A few minutes had passed and the time for the Disciplinary Officer Trial Exam started.
There were four Rank Brackets: F- to F+ ranks or the F Rank Bracket; E- to E+ ranks or the E Rank Bracket; then there were the D and C Rank Brackets.
With 40 participants in total, there were 10 students for each Rank Bracket, and the trial exam would simultaneously occur in the four arenas of the four corners of the training ground.
Then, with a holographic screen that's placed on a bulletin board, the match-ups were announced.
– Participant Freya Moon (E) vs. Participant Karl Cromwell (E+).
...
"Oppa... I thought it's only us first years... why are there higher brackets?"
'...That bastard... Was he trying to find a possible matchup between a first and second year?'
He thought of the Student Council President, as he scrutinized the match-ups of other participants in different Rank Brackets; there were 20 students for first years and 20 students for second years.
'I see... it's somewhat balanced, even the Rank Brackets.'
"Hmm... Look, from D and C Rank Brackets, all of them are in the second year, so don't worry."
He pointed to the holographic screen, prompting Freya to thoroughly look at it because all she did was find her matchup, not minding the others.
"Okay! Let's go Oppa, the first match will begin soon."
They found two seats in the benches for the E Rank Bracket arena.
...
"Good afternoon participants. I know that the rules haven't been explained to you before, so I'll start explaining them first, and please, listen carefully. I will not repeat it the second time."
Spoke by the man in his mid-forties; with short black hair, golden eyes, a well-built body, and around 180 cm in height — the referee that's designated to handle the E Rank Bracket matches.
Based on his words, there would be 8 new Disciplinary Officers, 2 for each Rank Bracket; the battle would be divided into two categories, 1 against 1 or the individual battle, then a battle royale for the remaining students, in which the last two standing participants would become a member of the Disciplinary Committee.
The participant could either surrender if he or she was losing. Then, to win, the participant needed to subjugate or knocked the enemy out of the arena. Apart from that, the participants were restricted from consuming potions of any kind.
"That will be all, now... the first pair of participants, please step inside the arena if I call your name."
...
Two girls were facing each other at least 10 meters apart.
On the one side of the arena, the girl, waiting for the referee's cue, has mid-back length ponytail blonde hair, slightly round, deep blue eyes, and quite a slim fair-skinned body. Her height was around 167 cm.
On the other side of the arena, the other girl has a mid-length ponytail deep black hair, hooded deep black eyes as though it's devoid of emotion, and a fitted, slightly fair body. Her height was around the same as the other girl.
The former was holding a Training Shortsword, while the latter was holding a Training Broadsword.
"Ready...! Begin!"
The signal of the start of the Disciplinary Officer Trial Exam went off as the first two participants clashed with each other.