All of the top 10 students made their way to the common lobby area, which was quite big.
"Hey, I didn't expect you to get such a high rank," Venessa said to Alyssa, who was sitting in her wheelchair.
"Thanks," Alyssa replied with a dull look in her eyes, but Venessa just nodded her head.
Certain groups had already formed, with Damian and Amelia sitting near Asher; Kevin, Elena, and Eva together; and Venessa and Alyssa.
Matthew and Lishia weren't close to anyone here, so they were just sitting alone, but the tension was high.
Neither Elena nor Eva were talking with each other, as they hated being in the same place as Asher.
Asher didn't mind the constant stares he was getting from everyone present in the lobby. Right now, he was looking at some stuff on his phone.
"I wanna go back to my room," Matthew muttered.
He wasn't used to sitting with such high-profile people, so he looked at Venessa to see how she was dealing with the situation. To his surprise, she seemed quite comfortable.
Matthew questioned whether he was too awkward or if she was just an airhead who didn't know how to behave around such people. But, of course, he had no way of knowing that Venessa had a similar status as the other elite family children.
Seeing no one was talking, Elena took the chance to speak with Lishia.
"Do you wanna hang out with us?" Elena asked Lishia, making some people look at her.
"Hmm, where?" Although she would usually avoid it, Lishia decided to hear her out.
"Apparently, the outer facilities will open for the first-year students after a week, so you can hang out with us," Elena said with a smile.
"Yeah, you should come with us if you're free," Kevin said with Elena.
He looked at Lishia with a smile and waited for her answer.
"I rarely go out, so I might not come, but I will inform you if my mind changes," Lishia smiled.
"You can come with us as well," Elena looked at Matthew, who was counting the lines on the floor.
"Ah, what?" Matthew replied as he missed Elena's question.
"Do you want to hang out with us?" Elena asked again, barely maintaining her smile.
"No, I'm fine," Matthew politely replied, not wanting to mingle with them too much.
Sam was fine because he didn't behave like other elite family children, and he could connect with him as a friend. But Elena and the others were different.
"Pft," Damian laughed while keeping his eyes on his phone.
"What's so funny?" Kevin was annoyed with Damian as he remembered their previous dispute.
"Your face?" Damian said while staring at Kevin's face with a focused look.
Although Kevin was trying to hold it in, he was almost at his breaking point. Elena noticed Kevin's expression, and she didn't like Damian either.
"You speak too much for a guy barely making it to the Top-" Elena started to say, but Asher raised his eyes and looked at her, making her close her mouth.
His cold gaze was enough to silence her.
Seeing that it was quiet again, Asher returned to his phone and continued looking at some stuff.
The whole time, Alyssa looked at Elena, Eva, and Kevin's group with a strange expression. Nobody except Asher knew what kind of thoughts were going through her mind.
Kevin didn't like how Asher threatened Elena, so he was about to speak, but Professor Elsa arrived, stopping him from doing so.
"It seems everyone is present here," Elsa said with a smile.
"So, I am here to tell you guys about some of the privileges you get for being a Ranker," Elsa said as she took a seat, gathering the attention of everyone here.
"As Vice Principal Xander has already told you about it, the Top 5 are allowed to challenge the Trial Grounds after completing their first year," she said as she brought a few special badges.
"We will award you these badges to the Top 5 when the year-end examination happens; some changes in rankings might occur," she explained.
"You all know about the extra GP you get for being a ranker and the fact you can use the crown as well, but that's not all the things you can do," Elsa told them.
"Well, you know that the Auction will happen soon," Elsa asked.
Some of them nodded, answering her question.
"Well, I will advise you all to get some good artifacts for yourself," she said.
It was true that artifacts helped to fluctuate the rankings a lot, but those artifacts could only be bought with GP and not with real currency, so it was difficult to bid on them like an actual auction.
And there was only one item in that Auction that Asher wanted.
"Well, there are some new things like immunity, but I am sure you guys have understood it, right?" Elsa asked, and seeing that no questions were asked, she moved on to the next topic.
"It's not official yet, but there will be a change in the structure of classes as we want more practical experience in the outside world," her words were enough to grab their attention.
"And, there will be many times we might take students to the three associations or some other places of value," Elsa said, surprising many of them.
"You, as rankers, hold the highest authority over other first years," Elsa said, but not many knew what the authority was.
"Although it's not something I like, but unless fatal or something that could lead to an injury, Rankers are allowed to use mana," her words surprised people like Matthew and Alyssa.
"And yeah, this means your seniors can also use mana on you to pressure you guys if it doesn't lead to injury," her words made Venessa frown, but for others, it was not much of a problem.
"Well, and then there is the fact you guys can use the top-notch facilities without spending any GP, but for limited hours per week," Elsa looked around.
There were some authorities that Elsa explained carefully as it required her to explain how the Student council worked and other things like different stars that the professors were allotted.
She kept explaining other stuff related to them joining clubs and factions and other things they get as a Ranker. But, it was not something too grand for Asher, as he had already gotten the thing he wanted, and that was the crown.
"And that's all. Your classes will resume in a week, as you might have noticed a wave pulse of mana. It is one of the SSS Rank artifacts, and when it's fully activated, you will be able to enjoy the World Academy fully," Elsa wrapped up their discussion as she stood up to walk out.
"Do you wanna spar?" Damian asked, but Matthew also heard it.
Although he wanted to avoid Asher, sparring was the one thing he wanted to do with Asher. Matthew used swords, so he wanted to learn from Asher, who was the grandson of the Sword God, Nathaniel Greville.
But, unfortunately for him, the sword art Asher was learning was not something anybody in this world could learn or was capable of learning. So even if Asher wanted to teach someone else, it would be pointless, as they would never understand its principle.
"Not now, next week. I will leave tomorrow to go to Soran," Asher replied.
"If you meet Lucas and Livia, say hi to them from me," Amelia quickly spoke as Asher looked at her.
"If Nate is there, tell him I said hi as well," Damian said.
"It's unlikely I will go home, but if I do, I will tell them," Asher said as he turned.
Asher went back to his floor, and as he stepped in, he could also feel the difference in mana in the living room.
He took out the SSS Rank Artifact and looked at the crown in his hand.
Asher could feel that he was close to breaking through to the Novice Mastery of the SSS Rank Node Sword Art. However, he was still at the Fundamental Mastery, and every time he tried to remember the scriptures in his head, only a blurred image would form in his mind.
********************
An hour ago, Xander was talking with Neyman, Zemil, and a few other Professors in a room.
"Vice-Principal Xander, I still think giving such a high rank to that girl is not a good decision," Argas once again spoke, but he was more polite and careful this time.
"They fought a C- Rank monsters in a dungeon, and you say my choice is incorrect?" Xander looked at Argas as he spoke.
"What?" Most of the people sitting here were shocked.
"Although it was evident that it was Asher Greville who killed them, I could notice that she did great supporting him just from the wounds on the monsters," Xander said, but all of them were still shocked.
"How?" Zemil said, but Xander just shook his head.
"Logic doesn't work in people like the. Take Ivar Greville, for example," Xander said, making them remember a certain person who was not as good as Asher but was the closest comparison to him.
"I heard Ivar's kids were found by the Greville family?" Zemil said, and Xander nodded.
"Well, Arthur-" Zemil was about to say something, but he realized his mistake.
"Don't worry, I don't mind it," Xander said, but the atmosphere around the room had become awkward.
Only a few knew about the feud between Arthur and Xander and how much Arthur hated him. Zemil only talked about Arthur in front of Xander because they were talking about Ivar, who was the only person who acted as the bridge between the two of them.
"So, any other questions?" Xander said as Argas raised his hand,
"Well, but it was still Asher Greville who killed those monsters. We can-" Argas was speaking, but Xander stopped him.
"Your point is that her abilities are not beneficial in the long run, right?" Xander said, and Argas nodded.
"Then you can tell your students to change the rankings in the Year-End Examination, and I have already taken confirmation from the Principal about this," Xander said as he wrapped up the discussion.
