***
Evening.
Above the cliff.
A few tents had been set up below, right in front of a gap in the cliff, with a wooden fence guarding the place. Albert was assigned to be in charge of the place, ensuring they were alright in case Morgan wasn't there.
"Where's Morgan? I didn't see him today?" asked Lara, walking up to Albert while carrying a grilled fish impaled on a stick.
"As I remember, he's still in the crevice of the cliff. Maybe he'll come out once his matters are done," replied Albert, eating the grilled fish with the other students.
"Is that so, huh? I'm really impressed with him. His ability made all of us pass the first exam easily," Lara replied, grilling another fish for the other students.
"This is only the first exam. We still can't confirm ourselves as academy students if we fail the third one," Albert said.
"W-What if none of us make it?" another student asked.
"There probably won't be a Rune class this year," Albert replied.
They were shocked. It was true the entry exam was quite difficult, but they never thought it could potentially fail a Rune class.
Some students began to spread gossip, wondering who would pass the first exam again. However, there had been no certain developments from the Azure or Clovis dorm students.
They were probably working extra hard to get their plates back, either by hunting monsters or plotting a plan to attack the Tan dorm students.
'The requirement for a rune class student to be qualified is to be at least in the top 20, maximum 25. So, the possibility of another rune dorm student being qualified is quite high,' Morgan explained, still looking down from the top of the cliff.
While Morgan was looking at the Tan Dormitory residents sitting around the bonfire, he sensed two energy fluctuations of the impact of the magic energy blasts in the north and west of the forest.
"Did you notice that too, Morgana?" asked Morgan.
[There's no mistaking it. They're students with stronger strengths than Rune students.]
'Are they Sovereign? Or maybe Viridian?' Morgan asked silently.
[It must be Viridian students]
'How can you say that?" asked Morgan.
[Viridian students are currently being pressed, with Sovereign's student group dominating the rankings more than Viridian's.]
[Of course, if the Viridian Dormitory wants extra rewards, hunting monsters at night is the right choice.]
'Should we stop them?" Morgan asked.
[It's up to you. If you believe your alliance with Adeline is still in your favor, you shouldn't get in their way.]
[What if you cooperate?]
'Huh?'
[Talk to Tobias to arrange the distribution of the extra reward. Most importantly, you must get me the five rare materials].
'I'm really confused by this situation,' Morgan explained, scratching his head.
Morgan was still thinking about the potential alliance with the Viridian Dormitory. If he could cooperate with them, Tobias might be able to split the reward for him as well.
But a complicated feud would ensue if Morgan insisted on getting the extra reward entirely for himself. All the Arcana students would unite to hunt down Morgan and Tan's entire dormitory group.
"I'd better go and talk to Tobias!" stated Morgan, deciding to go to Viridian's hideout.
He activated wind magic under his feet to allow his body to fly freely above the trees. After successfully hovering, Morgan flew quickly followed by a strand of green light tailing him.
The other students below caught a glimpse of the strand of green light, guessing it was Morgan. However, none of them knew where Morgan would go in the late night as it was now.
Albert stood with his hand still holding his grilled fish, looking at the green light carefully, "Morgan?"
"Where would he go?" asked Lara.
"I don't know, but I hope he's not planning to attack other Arcana students," Albert explained.
"Should we follow him?" asked Lara, Albert shook his head.
The young man forbade it because the colossal forest at night was terrifying, with many high-level monsters roaming around looking for prey. If Albert insisted on following Morgan, he worried it would be troublesome for him.
"We'll stay here until Morgan returns."
Elsewhere, Morgan continued to speed through the forest sky to arrive at the Viridian dormitory's hideout. The place's location was still vivid in Morgan's memory, even though it had been two weeks since he had come to visit.
From afar, Morgan's eyes caught sight of a small housing complex specially built by former boarders for the next generations. Guards were seen at several points of the dormitory, but not so many.
Without thought, Morgan landed firmly in the center of the arena, creating a strong gust of wind and a powerful thumping sound. The students who were resting woke up, including Adeline and Alice.
"Y-You?! Who are you? What are you doing here?!" snapped a guard of the Viridian compound.
"I came looking for Tobias!" said Morgan.
"Tobias is away hunting monsters. I hope you can come back tomorrow," stated the guard, holding a hand as a magic circle appeared before his palm.
Adeline walked out of the log house, as did Alice. They were on full alert after a stranger visited the Viridian compound at night, a careless act in their opinion.
"Are you a Sovereign student?" the guard asked.
Morgan turned around, looking at Adeline and Alice. The two were smiling widely, walking enthusiastically toward Morgan. They were happy with their hearts beating wildly to see Morgan return to the Viridian compound.
"It's good to see you here again, Morgan," Adeline greeted.
"Morgan?"
"Is he the much-talked-about rune student?"
"No wonder he's so confident, Adeline and Alice know him."
"You're Morgan? Didn't you get kicked out of here? What did you come here for?!" insisted the guard, indiscriminately even though he was Morgan, the ruler of the rune class.
"I didn't come to find trouble with Viridian. I came to make a deal with you all!" said Morgan.
Hearing Morgan's statement shocked all the students, including Adeline and Alice. Adeline stepped forward, immediately asking what Morgan meant.
"What kind of deal are you talking about?" asked Adeline.
"I can't say it here. Only Tobias is allowed to know," Morgan explained.
"So, you came looking for me, huh?"
A young man arrived from the front gate with three people behind him. Morgan turned his head and saw the figure of the Viridian Dormitory leader, resplendent in his elegant uniform and handsome face.
"Adeline," Tobias called out, and Adeline immediately stepped over to him.
Tobias took out some plates and other items he had gotten from the hunt. He asked Adeline to hand over the plates to the other group, those who were 11th in the student group rankings.
"The plates should be enough to lessen the difference between Elvan's and 10th-ranked groups," Tobias explained. Adeline nodded in understanding.
'He went with his group to collect the plates for his friends. What a good, responsible leader,' said Morgan.
"Follow me, Morgan. We'll talk at my house," Tobias asked, stepping out first, with Morgan following.
The students let Morgan follow Tobias after their leader allowed Morgan to talk.
Adeline and Alice were quite curious about what they were discussing, and both asked to be included in the discussion, perhaps to have a say. Tobias didn't mind, and neither did Morgan.
Arriving at wooden house number one, Morgan sat down with Tobias on another couch, a single seat. Adeline and Alice also sat near Morgan.
"It's very dangerous for Rune students to go out at night like this, especially since it's the last week. It is said that many high-level monsters roam this week," Tobias explained, sitting back and crossing his legs.
"What do you want to talk about?" Tobias asked.
"I want us to work together to get an extra reward," Morgan replied.
Hearing Morgan mention extra rewards was enough to make Tobias gasp. Usually, the rune class students didn't care much about the reward because of the competition with the arcana students. However, this year was quite different.
Morgan and his friends destroyed the two rune dorms, and the Cobalt dorm didn't give any significant threat as there were only two groups left. Tobias could conclude that the competition for the extra rewards only existed in three dorms: Tan, Viridian, and Sovereign.
"It's not strange for you to know about that," Tobias replied.
"What do you know about the extra reward?" Tobias asked, making sure to know how much knowledge he had if he wanted to make a deal with Viridian.
"To get the reward, a dorm must place at least 50% of the group in the top 10. From the number of dorms available, you can be sure that an extra reward is given every year," Morgan explained.
"If there are two dorms with the same number of groups, then the settlement will be determined by the total number of plates," Morgan added.
Tobias smiled, occasionally nodding a few times because what Morgan said was completely true, written in the new student handbook. Now, the current ranking situation would probably apply the second rule.
"That's right. The Sovereign has placed five of its groups in the top ten, while we only have four. However, soon, Elvan's group will overtake the tenth-ranked group," Tobias said.
"But with the overall plate count calculation, if the group results are the same in the rankings, then Viridian will lose the race for this reward," Tobias explained.
"Alice," said Tobias, Alice nodded in understanding what Tobias was saying.
The girl took a blue plate from her storage bracelet and placed it on the table where the students' ranking order was immediately displayed.
[First Exam Student Group Ranking:]
[1st. Sovereign First Group. Leader: Aiden Gallagher] [Plate: 780]
[2nd. Viridian First Group. Leader: Tobias Hemsworth] [Plate: 730]
[3rd. Sovereign's Second Group. Leader: Nathan Lawrence] [Plate: 650]
[4th. Viridian Third Group. Leader: Alice Watson] [Plate: 589]
[5th. Viridian Second Group. Leader: Adeline Thompson] [Plate: 550]
[6th. Fourth Group Sovereign. Leader: Jacob Luke] [Plate: 480]
[7th. Fifth Group Viridian. Leader: Jesse Albert] [Plate: 400]
[8th. Cobalt First Group. Leader: Jake Brighton] [Plate: 375]
[9th. Third Group Sovereign. Leader: Rudy Nuke] [Plate: 350]
[10th. Sovereign's Fifth Group. Leader: Brandon Nick] [Plate: 305]
A blue holographic panel appeared on top of the blue plate. Alice called the blue plate the copy plate. It could copy and update any information easily because it was connected to the original information. However, it could only copy one piece of information at a time.
"Currently, the Sovereign dorm has accumulated 2,565 plates, while Viridian only has 2,269. It's really a tight competition," Tobias explained.
"Then what about the number of plates belonging to Elvan's group?" asked Morgan.
"He has 290 plates. If you add in the plates Tobias just captured, the total will be 302," Adeline replied.
"Still lacking a few more," Tobias explained, realizing that the real battle wasn't in the forest or arena but in the student ranks.
"But we can't leave Sovereign aside. Realizing the tenth position is so risky, they must be on the move right now," Tobias replied.
"If I'm the leader of Sovereign's dorm, then I'll target Tan's dorm!" said Morgan.
"That's the worst-case scenario," Alice explained.
"Tell you what, I'll let you all stay and take shelter in the Viridian dormitory compound until the exams are over. That's better than the Sovereign dorm taking your plates," Tobias pointed out.
Morgan smiled, not objecting to Tobias' proposal at all. With Morgan's knowledge and skills, Tobias had no objection to forging an alliance with Tan Dorm.
"If we manage to get an extra reward, what do you want?" Tobias asked.
"I want five rare materials and a sacred artifact," Morgan explained firmly.
This came as a surprise to Tobias, as he wanted the sacred artifact just as badly. However, neither of them knew what the sacred artifact would be.
"I don't mind letting go of the five rare materials, but for the sacred artifact, it's best to wait until we know what the sacred artifact is. Are you okay with that?" Tobias asked.
'It looks like he wants the sacred artifact too,' Morgan explained.
'It's best not to be stubborn and see how things go,' said Morgan.
"All right. I don't mind."