Extra's Guide to Surviving a Dark Fantasy World-Chapter 86: Personal Disciples
I immediately averted my gaze and lowered my head.
Was he looking at me just now?
One by one, other first-year classes also began to join ours, until everyone from the first year was present down in the training ground. The teacher’s assistant was still standing in front of us; once he had made sure that all the classes were present, he began instructing us about the class.
"Since everyone is present, I’ll begin." A bald professor among the group started talking. "From here on, everyone present here would go through individual tests regarding your strength, agility, and mental fortitude. Your scores would be recorded and used in later assessments throughout the year to measure your improvement."
Suddenly, the arena floor under us began to shift, and rows and rows of testing equipment began to emerge from the ground.
"During the test, if any of the professors is impressed by your scores, they can call you up. From there, you will have a chance to choose them as your master."
Impressed by the scores, yeah, right. I internally grumbled. They had probably already made up their mind regarding who they were going to pick.
I turned around to look toward Seylith and Aria in the distance.
Especially them; I could bet my left leg that they and their followers had already been picked by the professors from their side.
I raised my head to look towards Cyric, only to find him smiling in my and Soren’s direction once again.
Someone, please tell me he didn’t decide on which student to pick yesterday, either.
"Alright, for now, everyone takes a seat. Come down when we call your names." The bald professor spoke while turning around towards the rest of the professors. The students began moving, too, with Soren signaling me toward the nearest seats.
We had only taken a few steps when a sudden voice reverberated throughout the training grounds.
"I have already picked the ones who I want to take in as my personal disciples." Cyric Novar stood up from his corner seat and began walking down towards the arena.
The entire training grounds suddenly became quiet, with professors pausing in surprise and those like Seylith and Aria watching him with narrowed eyes.
This was understandable; in the years of his teaching in the academy, Cyric Novar had never taken in a student as his personal disciple, for him to choose one now when the great houses were in a battle of influence, and he had personally refused to join either side. Everyone was curious: was he going to pick someone from either side, finally laying down his allegiance?
He walked past the other professors and began making his way down the stairs towards the students.
"Is he going to pick Lord Seylith? Was he impressed by his sacrifice?"
"No, it has to be Lady Aria. Did you not see her performance yesterday?"
The students around us had already begun to whisper. It made sense, though; this was the great Cyric Novar they were talking about, someone who even the likes of Mia Rhyden would hesitate to antagonize. Becoming his disciple was a surefire way to greatness.
Cyric walked towards the group of students, slowly watching them as they parted like ants to make way for him, watching in shock as he walked past Aria and Seylith.
Not everyone was shocked, however. Unlike others, Aria and Seylith knew far more about the inner workings of the three houses and, hence, already knew that Cyric wasn’t going to pick either one of them.
Cyric was walking straight through the crowd, his eyes fixed in our direction. Noticing this, I slowly turned to my side and began slipping towards my right.
"Stop, stay right there," Cyric spoke, halting me in my steps and confirming my worst fears.
No, No, NO, NO. Not again. My plan wasn’t going to fail once again.
Unfortunately, luck had already decided it wasn’t going to be on my side. Cyric stopped in front of us and put both of his hands over our shoulders.
"You two." Suddenly, his lips transformed into an amused smile. "I am taking both of you in as my disciples."
A loud silence enveloped the training grounds as I watched everyone around us, professors and students included, look at us with their eyes wide open; even Seylith and Aria looked like they had seen a ghost.
"I..." Soren was the first to speak. "I don’t understand."
"I was impressed by the way you fought yesterday. That’s all there is to it." Cyric answered, causing a wave of confusion to spread through the crowd. The way we fought yesterday, Soren, they could understand... but me?
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Seylith looking at me with a suspicious glance.
This wasn’t good; if I went with him, then not only would I be under suspicion from Seylith, something that could be very annoying right now, but I would also get stuck with the main freaking character.
"Let’s not say too much here. I don’t want these people to listen to our talks." He gestured towards the exit. "Let’s go over to my office; we can go over all your worries there."
Saying so, he turned around and began walking towards the exit.
Soren hesitated, likely not expecting that he would be chosen as a personal disciple, but eventually began following him. I, on the other hand, stood rooted in my place, my mind struggling to make a decision.
Seemed like Cyric had sensed my inner turmoil as well. He hadn’t even taken a couple of steps when he stopped and turned around. His gaze met mine as his self-assured smile disappeared for a couple of seconds, replaced by an earnest expression.
"I am not forcing you to do anything, boys. Let’s at least have a chat before we decide to proceed with anything. Besides, you boys might have more in common than you had originally thought." Saying so, he turned around and resumed his walk once again.
Let’s at least have a chat, was it? Oh, what the hell.
Shaking my head, I, too, began following behind the two of them.
