Aeren looked around silently and began walking toward the academy. He reached the academy grounds unnoticed and went directly to his classroom, where he found Professor Davin speaking to the students.
Professor Davin's eyes went to the door where he spotted Aeren, and he smiled happily.
"You came at just the right time, Aeren," Professor Davin said with a hearty laugh.
Aeren looked at Professor Davin and simply nodded.
Professor Davin looked at his students, including several new faces, with bright eyes and said proudly,
"Some of you already know this, and some don't—this is Aeren, and he's the top student of this class. If anyone wants to become the top student and can defeat him, you'll claim the position of C-class champion."
Professor Davin made his announcement, looked around at all the students, and continued, "The good news is we're going out to the public training ground."
The new students looked at Aeren and saw nothing particularly special about him, but they didn't let their guard down based on appearances alone and simply nodded. Some boys looked at Aeren as if he were a role model, while others like Gen viewed him as a rival.
Several female students looked at him with blushing faces, as if she got praised, while others ignored him, thinking, I could win anytime I want, but I'll give others a chance to shine.
All the students stood up and prepared to leave. Some boys caught up to Aeren and followed him like devoted followers. Bough saw this opportunity and began speaking to Aeren.
"Hey, did you hear?" Bough asked. He just wanted to have a conversation with Aeren—it didn't matter about what.
Aeren looked at Bough but didn't respond, so Bough continued, "Lyra died in the accident along with Fred."
Aeren didn't answer but was clearly listening to every word. Bough noticed that Aeren was paying attention, and by the time they reached the training ground.
The ground wasn't as large as before but was still big enough to accommodate two or three C-classes. Professor Davin stood on the stage, looked around at all the students, and said:
"Listen, students. I don't think anyone here has the power to defeat Aeren, so you'll be fighting Bough first. If you defeat him, you'll get a chance to fight Aeren."
Bough went to the stage and waited for opponents, eager to show his power to others and become famous like Aeren, who could defeat anyone with just one punch without seriously harming them.
Some girls behind Aeren were encouraging a single girl, saying, "You can do it! Just say something to him!"
The boys around Aeren saw this and began to envy him. Aeren observed everything happening around him but didn't react to their reactions.
Aeren watched the stage and observed the fights.
A few hours later,
Bough hadn't lost a single match against any student, but he looked exhausted and could barely stand on the stage. With that, the session ended without Aeren getting a chance to fight. Bough looked at Aeren and smiled.
Aeren watched all the fights and was about to leave when Professor Davin made an announcement:
"Listen, students! There will be a competition between S-class students from different years. First year, second year, and third year will fight against each other. There are a total of 60 S-class students."
Professor Davin looked at his students and saw everyone listening, so he continued, "The top three from each year (first through third) go directly into the event. This makes a total of nine students from S-classes. However, second-year student Lira is not entering the event."
The Professor continued addressing his students:
"So the total goes from nine to eight, and there will be 16 total competitors. Here's the important part—there are now 51 students remaining, so they're going to compete against each other for the top 8 spots."
"This fighting competition will last for an entire month, so go watch their matches and try to learn from them."
The Professor paused for a moment and said,
"You all know better than I do what this means. This is an opportunity for all of you—don't miss it and grow from it. You were called geniuses outside the academy, but after coming here, you've all learned the truth about your skills and potential. So don't lose this opportunity to learn. The academy will be on holiday this month, so don't just wander around—watch the competition and learn."
Professor announced to everyone and concluded, "Class dismissed."
All the students started whispering among themselves, and Aeren left silently. However, Aeren was stopped by a few girls, and one girl stepped forward to speak.
"Aerin—I mean, Aeren. I wanted to say something to you," she said, her whole body trembling as she looked down at the ground, not having the courage to look directly at him.
"Hmm, what is it?" Aeren looked at her and asked flatly.
"You were so cool in your last fight and looked so awesome that my heart started beating faster after seeing you fight," she continued, still trembling all over.
Aeren listened to her without saying a word.
"I wan—ted to say—I really like you!" She shouted the last part and then looked around, realizing all the students were staring at her.
Her face turned completely red, and she ran away from her confession without waiting to hear Aeren's response. Aeren watched her leave and then departed as well.
Both Aeren and the girl disappeared, leaving everyone to witness the scene. Some girls felt anger emerge in their hearts. Aeren was the top of the class, and his looks were average, so the competition was low.
Because of his status, several average-looking female students wanted him so they could live as queens of the class. This dynamic only applied to average-looking girls—the beautiful ones simply needed to find a guy from an upper class (like B or A), so these girls didn't look at Aeren with any interest.
All the boys observed the situation and understood it instantly. They went off to find Aeren, hoping to get a chance to meet girls through their association with him.