Michael was bombarded with countless questions from Lincoln, the Barscht triplets, and Zeke, but he didn't pay much attention to those questions.
He didn't want to go into detail, and the others couldn't force him to reveal more information about his Soultraits either. It was generally known that everyone was allowed to keep secrets about their Soultraits.
That was also the reason Michael wouldn't be questioned about why he hid Spirit Whip during the aptitude assessment. Some may wonder why he did that, but it was his choice to do so.
Nonetheless, Spirit Whip had been exposed, and it wasn't impossible for everyone to collect information about his three Soultraits. In this era of technology and starnet, nothing remained hidden once exposed. Everything would be documented somewhere.
It was a pity that he lost one of his trump cards, but he had been ready to expose Spirit Whip from the beginning of the Realm Combat assessment, so it was fine.
'Let's just create a few more trump cards for later use,' Michael thought with a shrug, 'Of course, without holding back.'
Extraction was not a combat oriented Soultrait, either way. Not using it publicly outside the Origin Expanse was to ensure that information about it wouldn't be documented in starnet.
After losing miserably against Lincoln, Michael had many things to think about. He wanted to become stronger and gain more experience fighting opponents with exceptional inheritance techniques, and powerful Soultraits.
Unfortunately, he wasn't given too much time to think about ways to turn Lincoln and Zeke into his sparring partners. He received a few notifications on his crystal watch, just like everyone else.
[To the freshmen – Select your timetable until the end of the Real Combat assessment to ensure a smooth transfer to the beginning of the first semester.]
[The courses at the Saphirelake Military Academy are all optional, and there are no mandatory classes. Please choose your courses wisely. Courses are added and rotated regularly. You can register at any time as long as enough spots are left. Please keep in mind that some courses will require a fee using Saphire Points/special requirements to be met and that the Instructors and Professors won't start teaching you from scratch if you join late.
Remark: If you fail to meet the minimum requirements set by the instructors, you will be punished and marked. Should you be marked three times in one semester, or five times over the course of three years, you will be expelled and sent home (we won't reimburse the ticket price for the flight back home) Good luck]
[Course Selection Catalog.
—Mainstream courses— Intermediate Combat Practice, Unique Racial Abilities, Race Analysis, Mankind and the Extraterrestrial, Basic War Tactics, Magic Warfare….
—Secondary courses— Basic Terraforming, Advanced Topography, Native Territories, Origin Economic, Business Education, Mechanics, Space Exploration,…
—Special Courses— Limit Breaker, Ancient Ruins, Old Languages, Danger Sense, Memory Lane, Psychology, Basic Concoction, Enchantments and how to use them properly, Spacecraft Driving Course, Engineering, Giga Mechanics…]
As he browsed through the catalog, Michael realized that there were far more interesting courses than he had initially expected. He thought that he would be interested in a handful of them, but he was proven wrong immediately.
Just looking at the Special Courses was enough to pick more than five courses that he would love to attend.
'I shouldn't pick too many at once. If I spend too much time studying, I'll neglect the Origin Expanse and my foundation, and I'll slow down,' Michael thought dejectedly.
He had yet to finish the second stage of the Berserker Physique, improve his War Rune, and comprehend the neutral energy absorption technique, Pandemonium's Requiem. His combat prowess had yet to improve as well. Michael wasn't even in possession of a powerful combat technique since he ignored the wicked Spear Arts, which he had obtained through Fenrir's Memory Orb.
"I already finished creating my schedule. Isn't that what everyone did?" Jarg asked, a little annoyed at the notifications that kept popping up.
"Weren't the courses kept secret from the public?" Michael asked no one in particular. However, he quickly realized that the two High Nobles and the triplets turned over to him.
"I also finished mine," Lincoln added conversationally.
…
"Keeping something a secret from the public seems like a big joke in a place where everyone has connections," Michael grumbled quietly as he continued to look through the Course Selection Catalog.
He noticed that a few courses were already grayed out, meaning that there were no more spots left in these courses.
Michael's initial excitement dipped a little seeing that some of the courses he was interested in couldn't be picked anymore. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about that. Thus, he started picking other courses.
"Did you hear that Professor Zenovia is also the freshmen's representative, Zeke? Why wasn't that mentioned in the notifications?" Janus asked Zeke, before also looking at Lincoln in curiosity, "Did you know about that as well?"
"Well…isn't it obvious? Kaleb will join the freshmen once his War Rune manifests. I don't think it's surprising that Professor Zenovia wants to keep a watch on him, or is it?" Lincoln responded with a shrug.
He didn't see a deeper meaning behind Alice Zenovia's actions. She was known for being an overprotective sister, who would do everything for her little brother. Becoming representative of the freshmen in the Saphirelake Military Academy for Kaleb didn't seem far-fetched.
'Alice is our representative?' Michael thought just as he received another notification on his crystal watch.
It was a message from Alice itself.
[Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): I recommend you to pick only 3-4 courses to ensure that your schedule is free for the special course [Individual Teaching]. Add it three times a week, two hours each. It doesn't matter where you add it.]
'Is she angry at me?' Michael couldn't help but think after seeing her message.
Her message sounded different than usual – dry and to the point. However, that was not the only part that confused him.
'Individual Teaching? Who wants to teach me? Alice?'
Michael's heart leaped in excitement at the thought of receiving individual teaching from Alice. She was a Tier-5 powerhouse and had a 6-Star Soultrait. Receiving her tutelage meant that he could spar with a real powerhouse three times a week. He wouldn't even have to force Lincoln and Zeke to spar with him. That was great.
Yet, at the same time, Michael's expression was distorted a little. Why would Alice be willing to teach him individually?
Confused, Michael chose to pick an unusual way to confirm his suspicion about Alice at last. Rather than engaging in a conversation with her to figure out her intentions, Michael chose to turn into Super Detective Fang – for once, at least.
He closed his chat with Alice and opened Kaleb Zenovia's chat on starnet messenger.
[Michael Fang: Hey Kaleb, I didn't even know that your sister is the representative of the freshmen. Will that affect you?]
Instead of asking his doubts straightforwardly, Michael started off with light chatting.
[Kaleb Zenovia: I saw you earlier.]
[Kaleb Zenovia: I don't know if it will affect me, but Alice wanted me to stay by her side, so she had to take on more responsibilities. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been allowed to come to the Saphirelake Military Academy without a War Rune, and without taking any tests. But that's not all, you know.]
'Since when is he willing to write such long-ass messages? Is he bored?' Michael wondered when he saw the second message Kaleb had sent.
Usually, his messages were extremely short and to the point, which was also why Michael hadn't expected much. But his third message was even longer, and it revealed information Michael wasn't supposed to know – probably.
[Keep this a secret, but my sister uses the reason mentioned above as a disguise. She wanted to become representative of the freshmen to get closer to the Tritan Alliance. Our parents want to expand our business, which is why they want to request the Berserker and Warlock Centaurs to become exclusive business partners of our family. Unfortunately, that's not easy because our family has to gain their respect first. She wants to attain that by turning this year's freshmen – and me – into her KPI. She wants us to overpower the youngest generation of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs at the next Battle Exchange!]
Michael read the message thoroughly and could only smile wryly.
'He turned into a gossiper. He trusts me way too much…'
He was not too sure how to feel about the immense trust he received from Kaleb. But he knew that he was slowly getting closer to unveiling Alice's true intentions.
[Michael Fang: But how is that related to me?]
Now that Kaleb laid out the basic foundation of their conversation, Michael could change the topic rather easily.
[Kaleb Zenovia: Related to you? It shouldn't be.]
[Michael Fang: Is that so?]
Michael raised an eyebrow at Kaleb's response, but he didn't let it bother him. Instead, he changed his approach again, asking Kaleb a few different questions until he finally confessed.
[Kaleb Zenovia: To be honest, I thought Alice wanted to use you as a plaything when I got to know that you guys know each other. If not that, I thought she wanted you to join her squadron to use you as a meat shield later during the Battle Exchange – to test the waters for everyone else.
You seemed like an easy target – being talented but without anyone backing you.]
Michael nearly burst into laughter reading the message. The youngest member of the Zenovia family was really not good at keeping his mouth shut.
Kaleb didn't seem to have been taught when to stay silent, and when to speak.
But it was quite funny, which was also the only reason why Michael didn't feel insulted. Kaleb was simply giving him insider information and he could not be mad about it.
[Kaleb Zenovia: But these days things have changed. I think she likes you being around me. Maybe she thinks that you're a good influence on me. Dunno]
Michael had sensed it before as well that Kaleb was much easier to talk to these days and would often attempt to strike up a conversation with him.
Rather than showing his silent and arrogant attitude, Kaleb seemed more level-headed and capable of quietly analyzing the situation in front of him before acting. Their chat showed that Kaleb's messages were written without much thought, but his actions and the way he analyzed the situation were different – thoughtful and analytical.
Michael didn't expect Kaleb to acknowledge that he was changing slowly, either. He might not be willing to say it openly, but his behavior and attitude were quite different from the young man who had challenged him at the buffet. Interestingly, Kaleb was fully aware of that.
'Kaleb also figured that Alice wanted to use me,' Michael thought before he shrugged, 'Well…it's not like that is something extremely hard to comprehend.'
Even though Michael was still not completely certain about Alice's reasoning, he doubted that she wanted to use him for Kaleb's sake. Furthermore, he was slowly collecting information that allowed him to comprehend the big picture.
Kaleb's information had been extremely helpful. Michael continued to chat with Kaleb, but that wasn't all he did.
He opened a second holographic screen where he opened his chat with Alice.
Instead of continuing to beat around the bush, he chose to be straightforward with Alice.
[Michael Fang: Why did you offer me Individual Teaching? Do you want to use me for the Battle Exchange? Or do you want me to join your squadron in the future? What did you plan to do once you gained my trust? I really don't understand what you're thinking.]
His message was impolite considering that Alice was the representative of the freshmen, and a Professor, while Michael was merely an ordinary student, but he didn't really care about that right now.
He was too curious and wanted answers.
Now!
Alice was still seated in the large room with the other Instructors, Professors and some of the older folks of mankind when she received Michael's message.
The corner of her lip curled upward upon reading it.
"Being polite doesn't really suit you," She mumbled, "This is much better than those bootlickers."
Then she began to type a long message.
[Alice Zenovia(fierce beauty): The message will be a little bit longer, so don't complain later.]
Michael subconsciously nodded his head when he saw the message. He waited patiently, glad that he would finally receive the answer he'd been waiting for.
Ten minutes later, the message he'd been waiting for arrived. However, it was much longer than he expected.
'What is wrong with this amount of details?!?'
