Academy Club (2)

A week period that was given to the first year to choose to join clubs has ended. I already submitted my clubs' form along with Prince Theo a few days ago.

I would have a Parkour Club meeting on Saturday morning. I could go to the meeting after I finished my morning training at an abandoned training ground since their meeting spot was not far from there.

After knowing that I have morning training, Adrian started joining me every time I trained outside of my room. He said that I owe him once since he was the one who found the abandoned training ground and share it with me.

Then I checked on the main characters, all of them joined the clubs they originally were in the novel except for one person, Selina Senju. She supposedly joined the 'Sparring War' and 'Life and Knowledge' Club but suddenly she joined the Parkour Club with the Sparring War Club.

'I don't remember triggering any changes to happen, ' I thought, but then I just shrugged it off by thinking that maybe the plot and characters have changed bit by bit without my influence.

Amanda joined a club called 'History and Strategy' which was mainly about this world war history. It was not unexpected for the future genius battle strategist to join that kind of club. I kind of interested in that club but I didn't have time to join it thus I only asked Ron to buy more history books related to it.

Other than Adventure Club, Cedric didn't join any other club since he wanted to focus more on his training.

Gina on the other hand joined Botany Club where they were taught how to plant and grow plants using magic. A lot of farmers in this world use magic in farming since it was easier and the vegetable would contain mana inside them, making them healthier and tastier. Shino also joined this club as his second club.

They didn't need any chemical pesticides or fertilizers if they could use mana when farming. It's kind of logical if Gina was interested in that kind of thing since the Tang clan has one of the most fertile lands in the empire.

People in their territory specialized in planting high-quality herbal plants that usually took a long time to mature and could be used.

What club did the original Ares join, you may ask?

He joined the 'Life and Knowledge' club but I was not sure what that club do. Prince Theo said it was a meditation club. They also went on a picnic once in a while.

'Why the hell did the original Ares join that kind of club? But since he was just considered an extra, nothing much was known. But wait...Why did Selina seem to change club because I change club?'

In the novel, original Ares joined the 'Life and Knowledge' Club and so did Selina. Now when I as Ares joined Parkour Club, Selina also did the same. There was no description of Ares having any interaction or relationship with Selina before the plot begin or even when the plot was in progress.

'Ares is considered an extra character anyway while Selina was the female lead.' I thought while slightly glancing at Selina.

'Whatever. Things are bound to change no matter what I did due to the butterfly effect.'

"Alright students. That's all for today's class. Please complete the task I've given you by next week, " Miss Zane said after a two-hour maths class with her.

"Damn why do we need to learn all these things? It's not like we are going to use them when hunting monsters and demons. Do I have to use Algebra to catch demons?" someone said behind me.

It was Shino Kiba. In the novel, he was ranked 10th because his written test was so bad while his combat test got one of the highest marks in the first year. If I was not mistaken his weapon is a dual spear.

Suddenly, I felt someone poking my cheek. I turned to my left just to see Prince Theo was the one who did it.

"You're always in a daze like you have a lot to think. Is maths hard? " he asked.

"Not really," I said vaguely

"Want to do it together?" he asked.

"Sure, come to my room tonight. Since tomorrow is the weekend, we can finish it tonight," I answered.

Since I have maths revision with Adrian, I could just use the same questions Miss Zane gave to teach Adrian since he must have already learned it last year. I wanted to make sure Adrian at least has a strong basic even though he couldn't solve a higher-level question.

"Alright then want to have dinner together?"

"Sure" I answered shortly.

************************************

Morning came and I was currently just finished my training regime which consists of running a few lapses, doing planks, push-ups and rope jumping.

"Is today your first club meeting? Take it easy since there won't be much on the first meeting anyway" Adrian said when he saw me packing up my things.

Because we were so immersed in exercising, I lost track of time and now I have to go straight to the meeting venue without showering or changing my clothes.

"Yeah, I think so," I replied nonchalantly.

"Want me to take you there?"

"If you want to."

Adrian seemed like a social butterfly so I didn't mind him sticking with me sometime.

*(social butterfly: someone who is outgoing, socializer, extrovert)

"Alright then let's go," he said while taking his shirt that he took off before our training.

The meeting venue is located in front of an artificial cave and stone wall at the back corner of the academy area. Not many students have been to this place since it was quite isolated and no other facilities were built around this area.

From the abandoned training ground, it only took around 10 minutes to reach the meeting venue. When we arrived, not many of the members had arrived yet however I could see someone I was familiar with already there, sitting alone on a big rock.

Selina Senju is the only character that a course of action somewhat different from the novel. However, I chose to not think too much about it.

"Yo Adrian, what are you doing here?" suddenly someone greeted Adrian.

"Hey Grill, I don't know that you're in this club,"

"Hahaha I'm the secretary, so are you just passing by?" Grill asked

"Not really. You see, this is my cousin Ares. He joined this club and I just show him the way," Adrian answered casually.

"I see. Hi, I'm Grill the secretary of Parkour Club," he said while gesturing his hand to me to ask for a handshake.

"I'm Ares," I said shaking his hand.

"He's a shy one so don't tease him too much alright," Adrian said while patting my shoulder.

I just rolled my eyes at his statement and Grill just chuckled seeing my reaction before asking, "Did you guys just finish training?"

"Yup but now I'm hungry so I go first and grab breakfast. Tata.." Adrian said while walking away and waving his hand.

"He sure is easy-going" Grill muttered seeing Adrian walking away.

Meanwhile, I opened my sling bag and took out my water bottle and drink them before sitting down on the ground.

"Is Adrian bullying you? You look exhausted you know," Grill suddenly said to me. I could also feel the others staring at me but I was already used to this kind of curious stare thus I just ignored them.

"No I'm fine and he's not bullying me," I answered before taking another gulp of water.

After that more and more of the club members came and all of them stare at me curiously. A few moments later, the club President arrived.

He was a fourth-year student and it was obvious that he was a Kiba with that whisker shaped tattoo on his face. After confirming that all of the members had arrived, he greeted us with a big smile.

"Hello, new members. I'm this club President, Arman Kiba a fourth year student. You'll be seeing me until the mid-year because after that we will elect a new leader from among the third year since the fourth year will be busy with exams and graduation," he paused and look at us one by one before continuing talking.

"For our first meeting, I will explain to you what our club activities are and maybe show some demonstrations," then he continued explaining about the club activities and their objectives which were mainly to increase someone's agility and dexterity.

"Then now we will be showing a demonstration where your senior will climb this stone wall without any tools or rope then you guys can try climbing the wall using tools and guidance from your seniors"

After Arman finished saying that, two male students both have brown hair but different shades of brown came forward to the front of the stone wall. Then I could see a glow enveloping their arms and legs which I thought was mana. They started to climb the wall using only the tiny cracks between each stone until they reach the peak.

Both of them only wore minimal security rope while climbing the stone wall confidently.

I could see the first year looked amazed seeing the demonstration and so do I. I had never done any parkour in my previous world so this was my first time.

"Next who wants to try?" Arman Kiba suddenly asked the first-year students. All of them looked excited but no one came to the front.

"Let's see who I want to choose," seeing that no one volunteered, he decided to choose maybe one or two of the first year then suddenly his eyes met with my eyes.

"Aha, you the red hair guy. Come here," he said to me and gestured for me to come towards him. Without much thinking, I just stood up and walked toward him.

"What's your name little brother," he asked and his gaze seem excited for a reason.

"I'm Ares" I answered shortly.

"Ok Ares, do you want to try climbing the stone wall. You just finished your personal training right since you're wearing training clothes" Arman asked me.

"Hmm yes sure I think"

"Don't worry. We will assist you. Yo dude gets the ropes" Arman said while ordering the other seniors to prepare the climbing tools for me.

"Hmm, can I also try?" Suddenly a female voice could be heard from the first-year crowd. It was Selina's voice.

"Oohhhh sure of course. Come here" Arman seemed more excited than before.

Then both me and Selina were equipped with the ropes tightly. They also told us not to force ourselves and just jump after we felt that we couldn't climb anymore. Since I know that most first years are not proficient in mana control properly yet, thus I always wear mana restriction bracelets and focused on strengthening my raw physical prowess more.

Zanuki has a large mana pool thus, I would always instinctively use mana to strengthen my body and I didn't know my body limit because of that. Being able to strengthen physical body using mana, is a rare sight among the first years. I was not sure about Cedric but I didn't want to attract any more attention.

I could use the reason of being a Zanuki allowing me to have such talent but I prefer to remain low profile.

Other than that, I could also test the strength of my raw physical muscle. Even though I have gained weight and some muscle that could be considered well built, I never had the opportunity to test their raw strength to the limit without mana.

"Alright, both of you can start climbing however you like and just jump down if you are exhausted. Don't need to force yourself," Arman said before both me and Selina started climbing.

At first, I felt fine then the higher I climbed the more I could feel the pressure from gravity adding to my weight. But I could still climb thus I continued climbing until I saw something weird with my rope.

The more I climbed, the more I could feel my ropes getting loose despite it should have been tied tightly. Feeling like something bad going to happen, I looked at Selina's ropes but hers were fine which means only I was having a problem.

A few moments later I decided to jump because I was afraid the higher I climbed the worst would happen to me since the rope had become loose. However, the moment I decided to jump, the rope suddenly became completely loose and unleashed as if it was purposely time with my action.

-Bukkk!

Within a split of seconds, my body fell and crashed to the ground. I could feel the shock and pain all over my body. If I have used mana this would not be a problem for me at all because the wall wasn't high enough to cause death if people were to fall from it. Since I was currently wearing the mana restriction bracelet I couldn't shield my physical body from the impact.

My aura control also still was not proficient enough but I could feel my aura creating a thin layer of protection on the back of my body and head.

"Oh my God Ares! Guys call the healers quick!!!" I could hear Arman's panicked voice.

Later I could also see Selina jump down and quickly came to my side. Her usual emotionless face has a hint of worry.

I looked at them dazedly since I kept thinking whether some of the seniors purposely did that to me or was it purely an accident. I didn't remember Ares having enemies at school. However, I decided not to tell anybody about it until I confirmed it myself.

I continued to ponder silently even though people around me kept on asking me if I'm fine. I just nodded weakly but I couldn't move my body since I felt extremely stiff.

*************************************

Later, the healers came and checked on Ares. One of them said to Arman, "Don't worry he's fine. It was quite fortunate that he was the one experiencing this incident since his physical body is sturdier than other people. If other students were at his place, some of their bones must have been broken already."

"Ohh I think he's using mana strengthening," Arman said in relief.

"Nope. It's purely his physical body without mana since he is wearing a mana restriction bracelet" said the healer.

"Mana restriction bracelet? Why?" Arman asked confusedly.

"You know which family he is from right? It's not weird if they wear many restriction accessories at once. You were already shocked when I said about the mana restriction bracelets but do you see his earrings. Those are aura concealment and sealing tools"

Listening to the healer's words made Arman dumbfounded. A lot of speculations and guesses suddenly swirling inside his head.

Is that his family practice to wear those restrictive tools? So what was the point of them having a large mana pool and being proficient in aura? Did they just want to rely on raw muscle strength alone?

Seeing Arman in a daze, the healer said, "However please make sure that something like this won't happen again in the future. If not we have to report your club to the board committee and this club can be disbanded."

"Yes, I take note of that. Thank you for your help, sir," he said.

"We already injected him a potion into his muscle. He can't move since his muscle seem to be in shock due to the impact but everything else is fine. Let him rest for a while before letting him back to his room" the healer said one last time before going.

"Alright, guys. Calm down. Ares is fine so let's give him some space to breathe calmly and let us take a break until Ares can move his body again. Later I will bring Ares to his room and we finished our first club meeting by then," Arman said clearly to his club members

After saying a few consoling and encouraging words to the club members, especially the first year, he dismissed them and planned to help Ares back to his room.

However, it seemed his help was not needed since Ares could walk just fine. Other students also looked bewildered by the scene although Ares seem ignorant about it. Ares's face looked stoic despite we could only see half of it.

He packed his bag and put it on his shoulder. He looked like nothing had happened.

"Do you want me to help bring your bag, Ares? " Arman asked since he was also partly responsible for what had happened.

"No, it's ok. I can carry it myself" Ares answered

"So are you going back to your room to rest?" Grill asked.

"Yes," he answered shortly. I felt grateful for that normal answer since I thought he would go training or something.

"Yes, you should take a rest and maybe take a nap this evening since it's the weekend. Do you have any plans tonight or tomorrow? If not I can bring some fruits for your recovery to your room tomorrow" Arman said to him

He seems to be in deep thought for a while before saying, "Thank you but I have training tomorrow so you can just put the fruits outside of my room" he said flatly and then he walked away.

'He has training on weekend, after being injured on top of that,' Arman thought in a daze while looking at his back until he's completely gone. Grill also seems shocked by his statement but quickly regains his calm.

"Well not surprising since he's a Zanuki" Grill said while shrugging his shoulders.

Later Arman went to the cafeteria to have lunch before he saw a few familiar faces from my batch. 'Karin, Zerisa and Carion the monster trio of the fourth year'

Even though Arman was also from a noble clan himself, he still felt inferior to the three of them. Compared to them, he was just average with the rank of 30th in the fourth year.

The three of them are having lunch in the middle area of the cafeteria. After listening to what the healer previously said, Arman glanced toward Zerisa and Karin only to see the same earrings as Ares on their ears. Fortunately, he didn't see them wearing any bracelets like Ares.

'Damn, I think it's true that they try to suppress their power to become more powerful. But you guys are already monsters why do you want to become more powerful than you currently are? ' Arman cried inwardly while taking his lunch on a tray plate.

"Yo Arman what are you doing?" Suddenly someone grabbed his shoulder and it turned out to be Shino Kiba, his cousin who was in the first year.

"I'm having lunch," he said exhaustedly.

"Hmm did something happen? What with that face?" Shino asked.

Arman could see Cedric standing beside Shino with a concerned face looking at him.

"Hahaha, it's nothing. Kids don't need to know" Arman tried to push the question aside.

"Hmm alright, you don't have to tell us" Cedric replied while Shino seem unsatisfied with his answer.

"Come on kids let's eat together and tell me which club you're in," Arman said cheerfully to them.

Then the three of us chat while enjoying lunch. The two of them also invited Arman to their room since they want to ask for his help with their maths task.