Damien Lawcroft stood a distance from the forest and keenly watched it.
Judging from his unmoving gait and his intense focus, one could almost mistake him for a mannequin. Well, the grumbles he made gave him away, and these grumblings didn't cease.
The other Lecturers stood apart from him, intentionally avoiding being in his line of vision. When Damien was like this, it was best to leave him alone.
Just like the students could see a magical indicator to display the time, the Lecturers could also observe all that was happening with the very same medium. It was a two-way channel.
"Hmmn. It looks like it has started, uh? This is going just as I expected."
Damien's eyes ignored the trash who had a few Familiars hovering around them and focused on those he deemed worthy of his attention—students like Stefan Netherlore and Maria Helmsworth.
They had at least a hundred Familiars hovering around them, all brimming with intense light.
This could only indicate that they were the cream of the crop. Damien's terrible mood began lifting as he saw the talented students he had set his eyes on display the desired results.
Other students, especially members of the Upper Class had many Familiars around them too, a few dozen at the very least.
Middle-Class Students had a good number too, most of them had about twenty flickering lights around them.
Damien didn't care for the Lower Class, but his eyes went to them after observing the rest. As supervisor, he still had to monitor the trash, even though he expected nothing from them.
"Tsk, as I predicted. Trash will always be trash."
It was a miracle to see three Familiars hovering around those in the Lower Class. Yes, it was that bad. Most had just a single drifting Familiar drawing close to them, and judging from the intensity by which they burned, Damien Lawcroft already surmised that these were weak souls.
'The Familiar are probably just desperate and looking for a place to reside in.'
In essence, the students were fodder, not worthy of notice.
'How about that cheeky kid? Jared Leonard, was it?'
Damien's eyes scanned the large magical screen displayed in front of him and searched for the troublesome boy who got on his nerves the most. Even among the talentless, this kid had the gall to have a mere White Mana Core Grade and still apply to their institution. If not for his suspiciously perfect scores, there would be no place left for him in the Academy.
'There he is!' Damien grinned as he watched Jared closing his eyes shut in meditation.
Not a single Familiar hovered around him.
'That kid... so not even the desperate ones want him?!'
Damien was astounded by how one could be so unfortunate. He knew Jared was a good-for-nothing, but not to this extent. It was difficult to tell due to the distance, but the supervisor wasn't even sure Jared was doing 'The Call' properly.
'To think someone as shameful as this got into this Academy... it makes me sick!'
He had already filed an interrogatory report to the Academy's board concerning an investigation of Jared's admission. Damien was determined to thoroughly scrutinize his entry into Ainzlark, and if he found as much as a loophole, he would exploit it and make sure Jared dropped out by all means necessary.
Trash wasn't allowed in a fine place of learning such as Ainzlark, after all.
It wasn't just Jared that had no Familiar surrounding him. Damien spotted two other students who had no light surrounding them. One had very blond hair and looked like a child while the other had auburn hair, looked incredibly built physically, and had a determined look on his face even as he closed his eyes.
'... Must be a Martial Artist.'
To think that three students had severely failed in attracting any Familiars... this had never happened before!
Even the Inepts, who used Artificial Mana Cores, had at least one or two Familiars circling them.
'The Artificial Cores we provided are just at the base form of the Yellow Core Grade... to think these students are worse than that. This is absurd!'
As he had always thought, Lower Class scum were not worthy to be grouped with the more talented students. They would only stunt the growth of those with more potential and hold them back. This was the whole rationale behind the Class System in the first place.
As Damien Lawcroft made these condescending thoughts, his eyes moved in the direction of the Lecturer in charge of all the failures, Neron Kaelid. He expected the man to display even a slight hint of panic due to all his students failing miserably.
However, much to his disappointment, Neron showed none of such emotion. In fact, the young-looking man displayed nothing but a stoic outlook on the whole thing.
"Tsk, he hasn't changed!" Damien clicked his tongue while whispering under his breath.
The dissatisfied supervisor decided to ignore both the pathetic students and their Lecturer. Rather, he would focus on his pride and joy, observing the choice they made and greet them as they came out of the Oasis!
Unknown to Damien, however, Neron was not feeling terrible within himself. He wasn't disappointed, he wasn't worried, he wasn't anxious. No, Neron Kaelid was brimming with pride.
Why?
Because he figured out what Jared and his two companions were trying to do!
'That crazy kid! He can already control the flow of his internal Mana Particles! He's drawing in all the excess Mana and trying to advance his Core!'
Neron's eyes darted to the remaining two students who did the same and surmised that their actions were most likely influenced by Jared.
In essence, these oddities were doing what others hadn't even considered and were doing it at a level that wasn't possible for their age.
'I'm excited! Jared Leonard, Anabelle Frederick, Edward Karl... show me what you'll do!'
Even though his facial expression was being controlled, his heart raced and his muscles throbbed. These students were growing to be monsters, and once as a witness, he couldn't wait to see what kind of creatures they would become as soon as they emerged from the chrysalis.
'Show me, Jared! No, show everyone! The power you wield!'
