Bulletin Board

The next day.

It was now the first-years' third day at the academy.

Currently, Mika was on his way to the academy with Gerard.

"Have you already formed a team, Gerard?"

"Well, I suppose so. We're already three people, but we try to recruit some more people."

The rules stated that a team must have at least three people and a maximum of five people.

"So you're meeting up with your team now?" Gerard asked.

Mika already told Gerard yesterday about his new member, Lily.

As the two shared a room together, it was almost inevitable to not speak with each other. Therefore, they talked about their days and other things just like typical friends.

"Yes…" he replied dejected with his head facing the ground.

"You sound rather unmotivated, haha!" Gerard smacked Mika's back with a wide smirk.

He tried to not think about it, but he was reminded that Sylvia was an S-rank. Thus, his team had to take on an S-rank quest.

As an E-rank, it was more than just suicidal to take on an S-rank quest.

And on top of that, if the system issued out a quest simultaneously, then Mika would just become an easy target due to him being stripped of of his ace in his sleeves, his sword.

"If I were you, then I couldn't help but grin from one ear to the other."

"What do you mean…?"

"Oh, man… Just look at you! Have you forgotten that you're in a team alone with Sylvia Pyril and Lily Hayth?"

"And…?"

"Those two are beauties! It wouldn't be exaggerated if I said that those two are the top beauties in our year!"

Gerard was talking so enthusiastically about this topic that even Mika was slightly crept out.

"Sure…"

Instead of dejection, Mika's voice was filled with awkwardness.

"Anyways, I guess it's a good idea to meet up at this time. After all, only a few people would take a look at the bulletin board so early in the morning. Following the ruckus in the cafeteria yesterday, I overheard a lot of people in my class talking about you and your class."

"What did they say?"

"Well…" Gerard tried to hide it as he scratched his cheek with his finger.

"You just need to know that they're pretty hostile towards you all…" he added with a wry smirk.

Mika sighed.

"I see… Thanks for telling me…" Mika showed his gratitude despite feeling down again.

Following that, they arrived in the main hallway of the academy. And just like Gerard said, only a few students were currently present.

They all gathered to the right of the hallway, where the bulletin board was.

"Well, I will go ahead and meet up with my team. See you later!" Gerard declared while waving his hand.

After he left, Mika went to the blonde and grey-haired girls in front of the bulletin board.

The bulletin board was as big as the blackboard in the classroom and was full of pinned-on paper sheets.

"Have you found a quest yet?" Mika barged in between the girls.

"Oh, good morning, Mika."

"Morning…"

Whereas Sylvia greeted him normally, Lily seemed as if she wanted to avoid Mika.

Because he knew why, he decided to not pry into it further, especially with Sylvia around.

"We were just checking out the quest. We were thinking that we should wait for you to be here until we made the final decision."

Mika's eyes wandered through the countless quests.

He noticed that the further he read to the left, the lower the rank would get.

"Could it be that all the S-rank quests were posted on the right of the board?"

"That's correct. The quests for F-ranks are on the left meaning that the more you go to the right, the higher the rank will rise."

"I see…"

After that, Mika went through the S-rank quests.

Compared to the other ranks, there were only a handful of S-rank quests due to them being rarer but also more dangerous.

"Hmmm… I guess, this time there are only quests for monster subjugations." Mika muttered.

"Yes, but which one should we choose? To sum it up, we will either fight against monsters from the type bird, bear, spider or ape."

"Well, how abo-"

[Choose the ape quest.]

"?"

Mika frowned faintly as he wondered why he should do so.

Personally, he wanted to choose the bears due to his experience involving bears.

"Mika, what's wrong?"

[If you do so, then I will reconsider the last punishment.]

"Let's take on the ape quest." he said with a stern and clear facial expression.

"Sure, it doesn't matter to me what we will fight anyway."

Lily only nodded her head.

"The only thing left to do is to find an instructor willing to supervise our team…" Sylvia pondered.

"Leave it to me. I know someone…" Mika said sinisterly with an according smirk.

Suddenly, he heard the few students on the left side gasping in awe.

Wondering what they were looking at, he turned around.

Mika's eyes widened.

A group of three students entered the hallway.

They all wore the same white uniform as Sylvia.

Walking in the front was a boy with smooth black hair and sharp red eyes. Whereas the other two followed him from behind.

To the left was a girl with drowsy dark green eyes and brown silky hair that reached to her thin waist.

And on the right was a tanned tall and bulky guy, whose uniform was about to burst due to his muscles. This guy's black hair was bundled into a knot and his eyes were not visible due to him wearing black sunglasses.

He could tell with a glance that they were strong.

However, especially the boy in the front was different.

His confidence and power made Mika break into a light cold sweat. Even Lily felt the overwhelming power as she took a step back.

"Oh, it's them." Sylvia remarked unaffected.

"Are they your classmates…?"

"Yes. The girl's name is Rachel Troa, the guy beside her is Harik Srong…"

"…and the one in the front is Belian Ziva."

Back then, Mika was also able to sense Ophelia's power just from her presence, however, he had the feeling that Belian was on a whole other level than her.

"Excuse me, can I take a look at the board?" Belian asked.

"Huh? O-oh, sure…" Mika responded taken by surprise.

The way he talked and the way he expressed himself reminded Mika of Sylvia.

He was just as stoic and as polite as her.

Belian's group passed by Mika and the others when they made space for them.

"…"

Mika watched them nervously whereas the three ignored his gaze completely.

"Everyone, let's do this quest."

It did not even take a minute for Belian to decide which quest they would take.

"If you say so~" Rachel replied with a yawn.

"Spiders, huh? I hope this will be challenging…" Harik commented pensively.

Having made their decisions, the three were about to leave the place.

This time, Belian's and Mika's eyes met for a split second.

He stopped his movements.

"Can I ask for your name?"

"?"

"Oh sorry, I should introduce myself first. My name is Belian Ziva."

He bowed politely with one hand on his chest and the other on his back.

Shortly after that, Mika began hearing whispers among the students.

"Hey, what are you doing, Belian?" Harik asked confused.

A student from the white class bowing to a student from the black class. It was a sight to behold.

"Y-you don't have to bow…" Mika said as he found himself in a tight spot.

After straightening himself, he looked Mika deeply in the eyes.

Mika took a breather.

"I'm Mika Elbar." he responded composed.

"I see…"

It seemed like there was something bothering Belian.

"Are you really a student from the black class?"