Moving together like ghosts through the crowd, Selene and Cynrik seemed to be in their own world, each taking sneaking glances at the other. Although neither would admit it aloud, Brance’s words were still ringing in their head, and attached to those words, was the undeniable truth, on a superficial level, the two of them were indeed a “Match made in heaven.”
From the subtle way they moved other students aside without them noticing, how they both carried themselves in the same over guarded and paranoid manner, all the way down to their eerily similar attitudes and speech patterns.
It was like they were mirror images of one another, which didn’t go unnoticed by the two in question. Cynrik had been trying to ignore this unspoken fact, while Selene was enamored by it, and it wasn’t until Brance made his snide remark that Cynrik and Selene became hyper-aware of each other.
Luckily, before either could address this fact, Brance, Gabby, and Benny came into view; finding it a perfect opportunity, Cynrik picked up his pace and began mumbling the next few steps in his plans for Selene to hear.
Potential training exercises, how she should allocate her stats in the future, and he even went so far as to explain in depth the strategies he and Brance had come up with as she slept on the hover jet. All the while, he would glance at her with hidden confliction in his eyes.
The more time he spent around the girl, the more aggravated he became at the entire situation. Before Selene came around, he was infuriated that he had seemingly become a puppet of Odin’s whimsy. Now, it was ten times worse because his every thought and feeling were attracted to her like an electromagnet.
For Selene, however, things were different. She had nothing but respect for Freya as she was her savior. Without the dying Deities’ intervention, her soul would have shattered and vanished into nothingness, so she didn’t have the same misgivings about the predicament as her alleged perfect match.
In silence, one person drew a line, leaving the other unaware. Cynrik would flirt and even get to know Selene, but at the end of the day, he had to force himself to remember none of it was real; it was all a sick game played by higher beings.
On the other hand, Selene felt everything was going smoothly, although, on the outside, she didn’t show it; inside, she was beyond ecstatic. Every time she looked at Cynrik, Selene felt a sense of wonder and wanting like never before. It wasn’t like she hadn’t experienced love in her previous life, even if she couldn’t remember his name or face anymore. From time to time, she would get flashes of being on romantic dates with boys and even…more intimate moments, but there was a disconnect within her mind as she could no longer recognize the other party involved.
In her mind, there was no doubt that Cynrik was experiencing what she was going through; it was only she had no idea he was fighting it instead of embracing what he felt in the way she had already chosen.
[[Brancie, what’s the hold-up?]] Finally arriving by his younger brother’s side, Cynrik exhaled slowly in an attempt to clear his head and asked.
Seeing the arrival of Selene and Cynrik, Gabby turned and held out her tiny hand to the older girl and smiled brightly under the hood that hid her face from plain sight.
This shocked Selene slightly; nonetheless, she still took Gabby’s hand and stood beside her quietly.
[[Conjestion, everyone is trying to cram into the same road simultaneously, so the professors had to step in and regulate the flow of traffic. On top of that, a few…unhappy people thought it would be a good idea to start a fight before they even were officially enrolled.]] Brance didn’t look back as he spoke; he could already feel Cynrik and Selene approaching long before they came into view.
[[Nice, what’s the story on that?]] Raising an eyebrow inquisitively, Cynrik asked with arms crossed over his chest. If one looked closely, one would have seen his left hand forming the same open and close movement as it had for hours.
[[Some idiot who got a B-Rank Contract was acting like an arrogant prick, bullying a group of D-Ranks till a bigger kid two-tapped him out cold. Of course, B-Rank’s buddies didn’t like that, so it soon became a battle royale.]] Brance explained and shot a stern look at Gabby with slightly narrowed eyes.
Cynrik saw this and looked back and forth between the two until it dawned on him.
[[Hehehe, she wanted to jump in cause it looked fun, didn’t she?]] When Brance’s face fell, Cynrik knew he was right and praised Gabby in the mind link with an “attagirl little rabbit.” However, he knew better than to say it aloud for her to hear since Brance had clearly gotten done scolding her not long ago.
[[I would let her, it would have been a good bonding experience for my new roomie and me to get some shared combat practice in.]] Selene chimed in, causing Brance to glare at her.
The three continued their shared banter for the next hour or so until the traffic jam of bodies cleared up and shifted back into a steady flow towards a large building labeled “New Student Intake.”
By the time the members of MyrkLys stepped into this arena-sized building, they were met by thousands of kids sitting in neat rows of chairs and quickly found a batch for themselves. After yet another round of banter and waiting until the doors to the room slammed shut with a loud bang, an adult appeared on the large stage in the center of the arena, drawing everyone present’s attention.
It wasn’t necessarily the doors slamming shut that caught the eyes of everyone, but instead, a vast wave of strong gravitational pressure weighing down their bodies for an instant before disappearing.
[[3g, and it wasn’t a singular person exerting it, every one of those adults surrounding the stage fired off their KIN at the same time, spreading it over the entire crowd. Pretty impressive.]] Cynrik answered the question in Brance’s head even though he had yet to ask.
“Good evening, My name is Head Dean Rimsfel; I am the Professor who presides over all things involving every First-Year student. Welcome to VSFA; since I realize everyone has a long journey, I will keep it short.”
Standing in the exact center of the stage, in the middle of the arena, Head Dean Rimsfel, who sported a neatly pressed suit with a blazer jacket in pearly white with the school’s emblem printed on his left breast, thundered. He appeared to be of Asian descent and had black eyes and a clean-cut short haircut, just like any regular salaryman. Even though he seemed a little skinny, it was clear to Cynrik that under that suit and jacket was a finely chiseled athletic and muscular body.
Cynrik and Brance activated their [Inspect] simultaneously, but after receiving very little information, they looked at each other out the corner of their eyes and sighed quietly.
All they had been able to learn was his Age, which was 49. Everything else was listed as question marks, which only meant one of two things. This Head Dean was either at least Tier-4, or he had a tool to block their skill, and judging by the slight intimidating air and the Mana Signatures shown through [Mana Sight], the two brothers determined the Head Dean was way stronger than them.
[[Hey, weren’t there only a thousand people on the busses? What is going on? Why are there well over 15 thousand now?]] Selene broke up the brother’s information gathering with her observation.
[[Simple, they recruited outside our country, as well as through backdoor channels. Not to mention, the Selections in the Capital arent the only ones occurring. Most of the big Citys have a variant of the Exams. So it only makes sense that there would be this many people.]] Cynrik didn’t look away from the stage as he answered her question.
[[And before you ask, no, there shouldn’t be anyone with a rank as high as mine here. I’m sure there will be a few S-Ranks, and a hell of a lot more A-Ranks, but the fact that the six Headmasters showed up to our Selections is enough proof.]]
Selene’s mouth dropped open when Cynrik practically read her mind, but she quickly closed it and nodded.
[[What have you got so far, Brance?]] Seeing the girl didn’t have any more questions, for now, Cynrik began scanning the crowd of approximately 20 thousand new students with [Mana Sight] still active.
[[On my side, I only see a couple of dozen who could be considered A-Rank, and maybe three who qualify for S-Rank on Mana Signature alone.]]
[[It’s the same on my end, that makes close to 30 A-Ranks and half a dozen S-Ranks. That’s not to say there aren’t hidden talents who can suppress Mana, but for now, we’ll round up to around 50 A-Ranks, and maybe 10 S-Ranks.]] Deactivating his ocular skill, Cynrik listened in on the rambling speech the Head Dean was finishing up.
“With that said, when you leave here, Everyone is to make their way towards the doorways with your Applicant Rank printed above it. You will be ushered to staff members who will verify your Rank and personal information before giving you your new Student Identification, Dorm Assignments, and Merit Cards.” Upon mentioning these Rank Labeled doorways, Head Dean Rimsfel motioned around the arena, indicating where these locations were.
Unlike the rest of the students, who instantly became excited, the members of MyrkLys all frowned. Splitting the party was NEVER a good idea, and yet, that was precisely what needed to be done.
Mulling over this development, Cynrik chewed his cheek for a moment and started issuing his orders.
“Gabby, Benny, I want you two to stick together; once you enter that hall, there will be some morons who try and use their name or parents’ influence to get the best of everything. Ignore them and find a Professor immediately. There is no doubt that the Headmaster has already informed his staff about us, so I want you guys peeling off from the herd and finding someone in charge as soon as possible.”
“If anyone messes with you or starts shit, you are free to do what is necessary; just don’t kill them, understood?”
“Affirmative,” “Yeppers,” Benny used his standard confirmation with a short nod, and Gabby cheerfully replied while clenching her fist in excitement.
“You two are with me; I will handle everything, so just stand there and look pretty.”
“Tsk, fuck off,” Brance said, wanting to hit his brother; Selene, on the other hand, only nodded and stayed quiet.
“Welcome all of you, the Class of 4187, to your First Year at Vesemir School For Affinities.” Then, clapping his hands loudly, the Head Dean stated authoritatively and disappeared from the stage.
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