Russell, Freya, and the two other women, after grabbing a quick bite from the nearest cafeteria, arrived at the Obelisk Auditorium where the Student Welcoming Ceremony was held for the freshmen of this academic year.
There were many sections — similar to how a simple booth was set up — that were lined up across the Obelisk Auditorium, but even so, there was still a huge space that remained unoccupied due to its massive size.
A few seniors — either from the second year or the third year — lined up in their respective Clubs, handling the registration of the first-year students; though there were some second-year and third-year students who were registering since they didn't manage when they were on the first year; probably because they didn't feel like joining when they were new students in the academy, and through time, their minds changed.
"Oppa... what's that Club?"
Freya pointed to one of the lined-up sections near the middle end of the Obelisk Auditorium.
Russell's deep blue eyes constricted upon reading the banner of the Club. It's one of the elements he knew in his unpublished novel, but it's not something to be worried about at this moment.
"FOH Club? What's that...? Future of Humanity? Hahaha! That's cringe as hell!"
Amelie answered Freya's question and cackled as she read the banner or poster that introduced the Club's name, as well as its motto.
Surprisingly, though its name was something that one could mostly read in a dystopian-themed story, many students were flocking to their section to register.
'These students either were infatuated or wanted to leech off them by hoping to be a part of their Guild.'
As Russell recalled, there were 5 main heads of the FOH Club, but at this moment, only 2 were present and accommodating the students who wanted to be a part of their Club.
Future of Humanity – led by the arrogant two-faced aristocrats that were not different from their parents, but that's not the problem with them, but rather the connection that these people had. Though their Guild wasn't in the TOP 10, it's considerable in strength and resources.
'They are boot lickers of their respective parents, who are envious of the TOP 5 Guilds. It's the reason that they bear secret animosity against the major characters I've written about.'
Russell thought as he started to walk towards the Club he wanted to register to, prompting Freya and the duo to subconsciously follow him.
Hierarchy exists with the 5 seniors or main heads of the FOH Club; the two who were accommodating the students probably belong to fifth and fourth in their hierarchy.
– Estella Lionfield (fifth)
– Ron Adler (fourth)
– Hayes von Deguillas (third)
– Summer von Aere (second)
– Edward von Fulminare (first)
"Oppa, do you think we should check out the FOH Club? It might be an enjoyable club, you know... since many students are flocking there.
Russell's thoughts were cut off by his younger sister's words; she might have thought that they would check it out since the section of the Club that Russell wanted to register to was only a few sections away from it.
"Freya, enjoyable you say? You might as well join a cult. That's suspicious as hell."
Amelie scoffed as she interjected, to which Russell agreed silently.
The common events that the FOH Club held were mostly parties; to gain the favor of the new students, secretly recruiting the promising ones while excluding the remaining ones they considered trash.
"No, I also don't want that Club... but this... is what I want."
Russell stood in front of a certain section that had a few students lining up.
"The Ryokou Club."
...
A week had passed since the beginning of the classes, but this week onwards would be the start of "formal classes" since last week was only about the introductions of the professors, an overview of the subjects they handled, as well as some reminders.
Freya, Russell, and the two women had finished their registration for the mandatory Electives and voluntary Clubs.
As this was her first time experiencing such a thing, the Club was explained to them in general upon joining one, but with the ignorance she had about it, she just followed her older brother and joined the club he had chosen to register to.
'Though I don't know why those two also joined us.'
She thought inwardly as she walked, nearing the classroom of A-1 class; she then heard a voice and soft footsteps from behind.
"Hey, Freya. Good morning! How's the weekend?"
Amelie, with an unrelenting smile that's painted on her face, bumped into her as soon as they reached the door of the classroom.
"Good morning, too."
She greeted in response, then a few minutes later, they saw Amery Blight enter the classroom through the front door; the door near the front of the classroom where a stage for teaching was situated.
Freya and Amelie had greeted her from their respective seats while Amery's seat was in the front, but they just received a cold shoulder.
"This girl, really..."
Amelie Rose murmured, quite stupefied, though one could judge the personality of Amery based on her demeanor, she hung out with them last time, but when Freya thought about it, it was more like she got dragged by Amelie.
"Leave her. Hmm... About your Electives, what did you choose? You didn't tell us when we went sightseeing."
Freya asked Amelie, to change the subject regarding Amery.
"It's the same as you, you know... Magic Utilization."
She responded casually, sending Freya to ponder a little before she spoke her thoughts.
"That's a relief, I hope we are going to be classmates when taking Electives because I don't know how the classes will be divided due to the absence of maximum students to be accommodated on one Elective."
"You're right, but I think we will be lumped with each other, along with other A-1 students."
Amelie replied as she supported her chin with one of her hands as she glanced at Freya.
"Then, about the other Elective, I've registered on Introduction to Support Technique."
"W-what? You're a Support-type class? I mean profession."
Freya asked with wonder and confusion.
"Hahaha, hey, we are close enough to address each other's profession as 'class', so don't mind it."
Amelie said before she nodded in response to Freya's question.
Support-type Professions were not something that was unexpected, but these professions were kind of rare and held great value in raiding either Strayed Dungeon or Dungeon Tower, that's why they were highly sought by Guilds.
Though Support-type Profession didn't mean that the player would only cast buffs because there were players in the same category that had great fighting capabilities.
"...T-that's actually great!"
Freya didn't ask her about the specific profession since it's personal information.
"Haha... Is that so... by the way, Freya, did you know what kind of Clubs did we join in? They explained what the Club was in general, but we didn't get the information about the specific activities we would participate in sooner."
'Huh...? What's with her dejected tone? Is it because her profession isn't Rare?'
She thought but refrained to pry further, instead, she recounted what her older brother had told her during weekends about the Clubs they had joined in.
"Based on my older brother, Ryokou Club focuses on travel or adventure while the Survival Club is something like extra survival lessons.
"Then, the activity with the Ryokou Club only happens twice a year, at the end of the first semester and second semester. It's weird but that's the only time we will have a get-together with the other members of the Club unless we came to know them prior to the Club Activity."
Freya explained the overview of the Ryokou Club that's soon to be updated on the Obelisk Website, but somehow his older brother gave her an idea just based on the Japanese word "Ryokou", which means "travel, trip, or journey".
"Wooaaahhhh!!!!! T-then what about the other one, the Survival Club?"
Amelie's ruby eyes gleamed in anticipation, but Freya answered her casually.
"The other one… Survival Club… you see, it's about studying the edibility of raw herbs, and monster beast meat, and how to cook them, something like that.
Freya recalled how she got mad with her older brother as soon as he told her about the general idea of the Survival Club.
- Who the hell wanted to cook a monster beast, that's just straight-up gross, Oppa!
- Well, maybe one day it would come in handy, you know.
In the end, she's to blame as he just followed her older brother, though she wasn't sure why the other two; Amelie and Amery, joined them. She thought that it might be on a whim.
"W-what are you doing?"
Freya's little nostalgia for what happened on weekends was cut off due to Amelie's action.
She asked Amelie whose face was almost touching hers as Amelie leaned her body forward, but her ruby eyes were like glistening stars.
'D-drooling?!'
She shouted inwardly as she saw Amelie, seemingly drooling.
"That's cool Freya! Yay! I'm glad Russell chose that Club and I joined on a whim. You see, I love cooking!"
To Freya's surprise, Amelie loved cooking even though she heard the words 'monster beast meat', the opposite of her older brother who didn't like to cook, who also ironically chose a Club that had a cooking lesson on it.
...
The time passed, then the front door of the A-1 class opened and a nerdy-looking professor walked in.
Every student had dilated their eyes, knowing the identity of the professor who walked in. It's the first time they saw him personally since he's a very, very busy man.
He didn't manage to greet his student because last week wasn't the start of the formal classes.
He's a renowned player but a widely known researcher and scholar in the field of "Monster Origin Research (MOR-000)", being conducted in the Obelisk Organization department called the "Obelisk Institute of the Origin"
– Emmanuel Lyncoster
The famous scholar who was contracted with the Constellation, 'One Who Oversees the Past, and an author of the famous literary work called, 'Encyclopedia of Emergence' — a book that Russell had.
Everyone knew him because the Obelisk Institute of the Origin was the largest Research Center known to the human domain, and he was a core person of such an institution.
"Good morning class A-1, everyone, I'm Emmanuel Lyncoster…"
He introduced himself in front of everyone as if the students didn't know him from the start; his voice exuded a gentle aura, full of humbleness.
After his introduction, he added some words worth to be taken note of.
"I am not here to belittle the other professors who handle other sections, but as you may already know, every one of you as A-1 students is greatly privileged compared to other students.
"That's also the reason why all the professors that are assigned in this class would be the 'Players' specializing in a different field who are not only known inside the academy but throughout the entirety of the human domain."
Freya listened carefully as she contemplate his words.
'Professor Emmanuel is right... the privileged we have is evident just by living in the Rigel Building.'
Each personal dormitory room for A-1 students contained a Personal Training Room with a fully provided set of training equipment; a daily supply of Low-Grade Stamina Potions that supported one's growth, and there's also the Personal Virtual Capsule for more fluid training due to a slight Time Difference.
'Sigh... the training room in the Andromeda Building is needed to be scheduled.'
According to the School Guidebook, there were about 10 training rooms for public use in the Andromeda Building; these training rooms needed to be scheduled to be used for only a limited amount of time of two hours a day per student.
'I'm worried about Oppa's growth...'
Her thoughts were cut off by her own thoughts as she recalled something; the voice of Professor Emmanuel who was speaking in front was passing through her right ear and leaving on the left ear as though she entered her little reverie.
'Come to think of it... I didn't manage to ask Oppa about that time.
'That was not a body of an F rank player... His body seemed sturdier than usual.'
Russell hadn't told her anything yet, but she knew that his strength suddenly blossomed.
...
"Alright class, as this is our first meeting, I'll do a roll call.
"Please be reminded that I'll call you along with your Class Rank, so pay attention.
"This list was just updated for the faculty staff, and later will be reflected in your respective Obelisk Personal Accounts."
Freya was snapped out of her thoughts because every here didn't know their Class Rank.
"Freyaaaaaaaa! I'm nervous, whoo..."
Amelie called out to her, and shake her whole body while wearing an expression like she was going to cry out of nervousness; not just her, since the atmosphere inside the classroom became tense.