Theo shows Martin to the Dean's office and gives him some heads up.
"The Dean is a very strict man. Be careful of the way you act."
He said, giving Martin a pat on his back, surprisingly, Martin doesn't even move a inch, he turns his head to give a slight nod to Theo leaving the boy a bit amazed.
He was a Novice mage and he had some twenty percent more strength than the normal human.
He hadn't spotted any rune on Axton's hand so at least the boy should have flinched a bit but he just stood as if nothing had happened to him.
Theo sighed, he didn't want to think much about it.
Martin stood in front of a door that had elaborate golden features by its sidelines. There was a golden plate on it that read "Dean's office."
He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
He wondered if Theo had some connections with the Dean because if he remembered correctly, they were supposed to meet the Dean's secretary but instead, he was dragged into an elevator bypassing the normal procedures.
"Come in." The deep voice of the Dean sounded through the door, Martin immediately straightened his spine and pushed the door open.
He walked in to see a bald old man bent over a table trying to go through some pieces of paper with small round glasses that rested on his nose.
"Ahem… Good morning Sir." Martin coughed trying to grab the attention of the old man.
The old man heard the voice and wondered why Selene hadn't told this person how busy he was. Selene was his secretary and he always counted on her to push every meeting he had to the other days including this one but she had failed him this time.
With a sigh, he raised up his head to look at the person that was troubling his quiet time, seeing that after raising his head, he still couldn't meet the eyes of the person, he craned his neck up a little further.
Okay this person was a bit tall, he thought to himself and why did that hair shade look so familiar, and what was with that eyes. Where have I seen them before?
"Axton?" The old, well calling him old wouldn't be fair on his age, the middle-aged man settled the glasses on his nose well and stared at the boy.
Martin cracked a smile, seeing that the man recognized him but he could vividly tell that the Dean didn't need those glasses.
Was he not a mage? They were meant to have no physical problems. Maybe he thought using a glasses would make people regard him more respectfully as if being the strongest person in such a prestigious school was not enough.
"Have a seat, my dear boy. Where have you been?" The Dean roughly pushed the papers he had been attending to into a corner as he focused his full attention on Axton, he had to admit that four years took a toll on the boy, and it was a good effect. He looked better than he had ever been.
One would think that he was a totally different person. His back was bent anymore and his shoulders were held up high.
Martin wasn't even given the chance to talk before the Dean proceeded again, "I heard about your parents and I offer you my condolences."
Martin lightly smiled and shook his head, he didn't want to be reminded of them again. It felt like calling their name caused Axton's body to reflexively react.
It was either he rubbed his hands together or his palms would become sweaty out of the anxiety the topic brought, it seemed that his brain had come up with a way for him to deal with the trauma.
"So what brings you here?" Martin smiled after hearing that question while his eyes caught a glimpse of the name tag that was pinned to the breast pocket of the Dean. On it was the name of the Dean which read, "Elliot Grey."
"I'd like to get readmitted back to school Sir." Martin said, the air around him developing into one of utter seriousness.
This was the stepping stone he needed, going back to school.
Elliot smiled, he found what the boy had said to be very funny.
"Why?"
Martin was a bit taken aback. How could he say that he wanted to go to school again to figure out a way to return back to his world, he wanted to say that he was not from this world, and he desperately needed to leave but he had already thought about how that would end.
"I want to be knowledgeable… " Martin started, Theo had already warned him on how to approach the Dean so he was going to use every manipulative skill his grandfather had taught him to use in the business world.
"Since the past two years, after my parents died… " Manipulation skill Number one, drawing sympathy.
"... I have not been able to awaken a rune of my own. Sir, I understand you can't possibly relate with my feelings because of how powerful your cultivation is but I am downright useless, and I just want to make my parents happy. "
Manipulation skill Number two, making your victim feel guilty for something he had not done.
"So I have decided to not really focus on my cultivation but to focus on gaining more knowledge so I can help other people and show my parents the son they can be proud of. "
Manipulation skill number three, no matter how self centered your thoughts are, always provide a good cause especially ones that helps humanity.
Martin watched the reaction on the Dean's face, everything was going according to plan when he saw the Dean's hand going up to rub his chin but he needed to top off the deal. It could be a deal breaker but it was a risk he was willing to take.
"And Sir, I know I said I still want to study but I heard from my friend, Theodore, that there is an awakening hosted by the school coming up soon."
Boom.
Three.
Two.
One.
"You know Theo?" The Dean's brows arched in surprise, causing Martin to laugh wildly but just in his head. He knew Theo had a connection to the Dean but later on, he would figure out what it was all about.
"Yes, he had been my best friend since I was ten years old." Martin said, exaggerating the truth a little, Axton only knew Theo when he was twelve and he had saved Theo from bullying but since then, he was the one who had gotten beaten but now not any more.
"I see, I think we still have an empty slot for the Dragon Heart scholarship but you need to ensure you sustain all parts of your end of the deal. You would be evaluated at the end of every semester to see if you had reached the strength needed for the renewal of your scholarship. "
Elliot said looking sternly at the boy in front of him, he didn't have a rune, how was he going to keep us with the requirements of the scholarship.
Yet Martin surprised him with one sentence, " Ok, I'm in."
"Oh… Well okay then, you are sure you don't want to think this through?" Elliot said as he slowly prepared the papers, he wanted to give the boy a chance to think things through. Life at Dragon heart Academy was not for the weak.
Even though he pretended to overlook things, he knew about the so called competitions between the students, it was basically a dog eat dog world, where the strong ones would feed on the weaklings.
Elliot had tried to curb it by introducing friendly duels and methods but he couldn't still stop the ones that happened in the dark corners.
Well, at least it would help the weak ones to go stronger. It was somewhat of a tough love.
"Yes!" Martin said, his voice carrying his solid will to go through this stage no matter what life wanted to throw at him.
"Okay then. The application form and scholarship form is a gold loins each, but seems you said you were friends with Theo, you can just provide a gold loin for the scholarship form."
Elliot resumed back to his serious tone while Martin had to stop a smile from breaking out.
He knew using Theo's name would suffice for him. He quickly handed over the gold loin and filled the scholarship form.
Just as he was about to head out, Elliot's voice stopped him, "Here's your timetable." Martin reached out his hand to collect the thick handout that was given to him. He was about to ask a question when Elliot continued.
"You can resume your classes now, if you want to, I'll still call you later all to complete the other processes." Elliot said, settling the useless glasses on nose, he shifted the papers he had pushed aside closer to him and he resumed his work.
Martin couldn't even believe how easy it was and the short time it took.
Normally, he would throw money at all his problems but he wasn't sure of what to do in this situation so he was a bit happy.
He looked at the timetable that was handed to him, it was still the early time of the morning and he was meant to be in Class 2F, behind the handout, on the last page, he realised that the classes were arranged according to potential, skills and talents.
There in the handout was listed class 2A-F.
There was nothing no one could tell him, as he knew the higher classes were treated far better than the rest and his theory would soon be proved.
Martin made his way to his class passing the huge and massive hallway, he saw classes with their labels written in front of their doors, soon enough he reached his class.
He pushes the door open and he is expecting to see a teacher standing in front of the door and teaching them something but instead he is met with stares as he opens the door and walks in.
It takes every thing in his mental ability to ignore the stares following his back as he takes his seat on an unoccupied chair.
He had seen no one who was familiar to him and weren't they supposed to be having a class know as Elemental Synthesis? Where the fuck was the teacher?.
Martin sighed, well now he fully understood what bring in class 2F meant, you were basically neglected, no one would want to waste resources without the prospect of earning profit, he wouldn't even do so himself so he wasn't angry as it was only normal.
After twenty minutes of waiting and hoping for a teacher to come, Martin realizes that even the teacher didn't want to waste time and energy teaching a fruitless class and would rather spend time resting or cultivation.
Standing up again and drawing attention to himself again, Martin headed for the library, the real reason he had come to this school.
He needed to find out what rune he possessed and most especially, how to return home.