Seidoukan Academy consisted of three school buildings.
The junior high, senior high, and university departments each had their own separate buildings, surrounding a vast central courtyard. Along with student dormitories and other facilities, the entire campus occupied an enormous area—larger even than some of the elite academies outside the city.
Aize was walking through the largest of the three buildings: the senior high school department, brushing past a few students who had yet to leave the premises.
His destination was the top floor of this building.
There, an office was located.
It was the student council office.
"Should be the right place…"
Standing in front of the student council office door, Aize took a moment to collect his thoughts. Then, he reached out and pressed the chime next to the door.
"Beep beep—"
With that, a completely black display screen appeared in midair, and a voice came through.
"Hello. How may I assist you?"
It was a cold, mechanical voice—undoubtedly a pre-programmed AI response.
Aize raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Pretty advanced..."
Muttering under his breath, he then gave a concise reply.
"I'm Aize, first year in the senior high division. I'm here to apply for the use of a Pure Star Radiance Armament."
As soon as Aize finished speaking, silence fell over the display.
"...Please come in."
After a short while, a different voice emerged from the screen.
Unlike the emotionless AI earlier, this voice carried clear emotion—it was calm and sweet, yet imbued with an indescribable composure.
"Shh!"
The automatic door before Aize slid open, revealing a space so spacious it was hard to believe it was just the student council office.
Aize paused briefly before stepping inside.
The floor was covered with a deep brown carpet, the room furnished with a full set of leather guest seating. Hanging on the wall was a panoramic painting of Seidoukan Academy, the overall atmosphere exuding a sense of luxury.
At the deepest part of the office, the wall had been replaced by a massive glass window, offering a view from above of the city streets below—like gazing down at an enormous scale model.
In front of that glass window stood a heavy oak desk.
Behind the desk sat a girl.
She was a girl with dazzling golden hair.
Her long golden hair wasn't smooth, but flowed in voluminous waves. Her entire presence exuded calm and composure, coupled with a beauty that could easily draw Aize's eyes—undoubtedly a stunningly attractive young woman.
"I'm Claudia Enfield, the student council president of Seidoukan Academy."
With a composed smile that matched her demeanor perfectly, the girl introduced herself to Aize, who had just entered the room.
"Welcome to the student council, Aize."
Upon hearing this, Aize didn't respond immediately. Instead, he subtly observed her.
"So, she's Claudia?"
Claudia Enfield, student council president of Seidoukan Academy, and like Aize, also a first-year student in the upper division.
Unlike the "unremarkable" Aize, this girl was widely known throughout Seidoukan Academy.
Because not only was she the student council president, she was also ranked second among all Genestella in the academy. Her parents were executives in the Integrated Enterprise Foundation "Galaxy." In other words, she had power, beauty, and a distinguished background—a top-tier rich and beautiful young lady, known by everyone as the school's untouchable flower on a high peak.
Moreover, she was one of the original heroines of the story, whose popularity once even surpassed that of the original main heroine.
For Aize, meeting her here was like meeting a real-life anime heroine—truly a moment of great significance.
Fortunately, Aize had mentally prepared himself beforehand, and didn't make a fool of himself.
"Nice to meet you, President Enfield."
Aize offered a slight bow and responded to Claudia with an equally composed tone.
"Just call me Claudia," she replied, still smiling politely and seemingly unaware of Aize's earlier thoughts. "I've already received your report—you're here to apply for the use of the Orga Lux, right?"
"Yes," Aize nodded. "I've heard that, in theory, any student at the academy can apply for the use of an Orga Lux through the student council."
"So, I'd like to trouble you with that, President."
The so-called Orga Lux was, like the Lux, a type of weapon powered by mana crystals that could change form.
However, while standard Luxes used mana ore as their core, the Orga Lux used a far rarer material—mana crystallite.
This substance had a much higher purity than mana ore and was extremely scarce. Not only did it contain significantly greater energy, but it also possessed special abilities.
Weapons created with mana crystallite as their core—Orga Luxes—were far more powerful than ordinary Luxes, and those special abilities could greatly enhance the user's combat strength.
Knowing this, Aize naturally set his sights on acquiring an Orga Lux.
Unfortunately…
"Indeed, in theory, any student has the right to apply to borrow an Orga Lux from the academy."
Claudia nodded, but then changed her tone.
"However, as a student of this academy, you should know very well—that's only the theory, right?"
Yes, that was only in theory.
In reality, acquiring an Orga Lux from the academy was nowhere near as easy as getting a standard Lux.
"Unlike regular Radiant Armaments, Pure Radiant Armaments are extremely rare and unique. Because of this, they are mostly managed directly by the Unified Corporate Conglomerate."
"The Unified Corporate Conglomerate only provides a portion of the Pure Radiant Armaments to various academies, lending them to students of the Stellar Generation for use. The students only have the right to use them, not the ownership. The ownership still belongs to the Unified Corporate Conglomerate."
"And one of the main reasons they do this is actually to collect usage data on the Pure Radiant Armaments."
"After all, unlike ordinary Radiant Armaments, Pure Radiant Armaments choose their own masters. Not just anyone can use them."
Claudia's words were heavy with information, but Aize had already known most of it in advance.
It was said that every Pure Radiant Armament possessed a will of its own—a sentient consciousness that would choose its own master.
If one was not recognized by the Pure Radiant Armament, they simply could not use it.
As Claudia patiently explained to Aize, she also tactfully implied something.
"Although all students in the academy can apply to borrow a Pure Radiant Armament, due to their value, rarity, and instability in usage, the application screening is extremely strict."
"If you're someone with a top ranking in the academy or have shown exceptional performance in the Stellar Wars Festival, then your application is more likely to be approved."
"But for someone like you, Aize… I think it'll be difficult to pass the screening."
"Even so, do you still want to apply?"
Upon hearing that, Aize realized that the student council president of the Stellarium Academy standing before him had already learned everything about him.
Perhaps, before he even entered the room, she had already looked into his background.
She knew Aize's academic record at Stellarium Academy. She knew that with his "mediocre" level, even if he submitted an application here, it would most likely sink into oblivion.
But Aize was already fully aware of this.
"Please help me submit the application," Aize said calmly.
"Alright then." Seeing that Aize had no intention of giving up, Claudia nodded and smiled. "I'll submit the application on behalf of the student council. You can go back and wait for the result."
"Thank you." Aize bowed slightly to Claudia once again, then turned around and walked away with his back facing her.
Thanks to this, Claudia did not see the sudden gleam in Aize's eyes after he turned away.
He quietly and subtly activated a portion of the power hidden within him.
"————"
In that instant, a wave of power—one imperceptible to ordinary humans—radiated from Aize's body.
"Hm?"
At the same moment, Claudia's calm and smiling expression shifted slightly.