"Senior, I'd appreciate if you stop peeking." Varian opened his eyes.
The thick mist of aura around him had vanished. There were only light swirls of whiteness in the air.
Varian understood he might have done something extraordinary. But even then, to be stared at by a guy no less was disgusting.
"I-I'm not peeking." Williamson hurriedly shook his head.
Inside his mind, he was yelling. 'Shouldn't you be in deep meditation? How can you wake up so casually?'
"You were staring at me for ten minutes already." Varian looked at him with contempt.
His expression seemed to say. 'Come up with a better lie.'
William nearly coughed out blood. 'Cool. Be cool Williamn. You are the second strongest in the academy anyway. What if you peek at a guy? Bah! It's not peeking!'
"Ahem. I was just checking out your practice." William explained. Seeing that Varian wasn't convinced, he added. "I'm Williamson. Second in Amethyst List. Head of Adventurers Faction."
"Factions…what factions?" Varian muttered.
But William's keen mental sense didn't miss those words.
With a dumfounded expression, he asked. "J-Junior, are you sure you are not a high school student? You don't even know what factions are?"
'But to reach this floor as a high school student? Absurd. Is this first year cadet living under a rock?'
Varian was taken back and said with the same dumbfounded expression. "Senior,? you don't know me? Are you sure you are not living under a rock?"
"Huh?" William thought he was hearing things. But his mental sense couldn't be wrong.
He wasn't living under a rock. He was living in seclusion for the past few days.
Of course, Seclusion meant deep meditation where he couldn't be disturbed unlike a certain someone who just woke up casually.
So he didn't know the recent events.
But there's no way he wouldn't have heard of a first year who could reach twentieth floor.
In fact, he knew all the strong ones during the faction selection.
So this guy was not a top one in the first year, but somehow reached this floor.
That left only one possibility.
"Junior, as a second year, you shouldn't insult your honor by pretending to be a first year. What's more, you are very talented. How about joining Adventurers' faction?" William threw an invitation.
Regardless of his eccentric hobbies, the guy in front of him was the real deal.
Varian had Boo summarize factions and search up Adventurers Faction.
'So he's not lying.' Varian's mouth twitched and he nodded. "So you really don't know me."
William rolled his eyes. "Of course I don't. Are you a celebrity or what?"
"Well, I am." Varian swiped his comm.
Hundreds of news article posts filled the space between them.
The first trending topic was #Varian.
The second trending topic was #Sarah & Varian
William eyes widened. He quickly used his mental sense to read up the top news.
Varian stood up and nodded. "Nice to meet you, Senior Williamson. I'm Varian."
William sighed and looked at him with a complicated expression. "So you are the guy."
"Huh? I thought you didn't know me." Varian said, closing the holograms.
"Sarah said how you saved the team. Twice. It's great that you're alive." William said with a genuine smile.
"Not hesitating to risk your life for your comrades. I like you, junior." William appeared beside Varian and patted his shoulder.
Varian hurriedly took a step back. "I'm straight, Senior. I like girls."
"Y-You…do I look like that?"
Varian nodded.
"Damn! At least show me some respect like others. I'm in Amethyst List anyway." William looked at him weakly.
Then his comm buzzed.
He read the notification and smirked at Varian. "Dean called the faction heads for a meeting."
"Oh." Varia nodded lightly.
William raised his head and sighed in melancholy. "Even though you're his disciple, I bet he meets the faction heads more than you."
"I see." Varian glanced at him expressionlessly.
'...show some more emotion, will you?'
William thought and his eyes lit up.
He walked up the floor leaving a lonely back. He paused and raised his head at 45 degrees.
"Don't envy me, Varian. Even I envy myself some times." He said with a profound expression.
"...." Varian sat down and started to meditate.
William's shoulders slumped and he shook his head. "At least Sarah responds. He's straight up ignoring."
He exited the Aura Well and reached the Dean's Block.
In the meeting hall, he saw Charles, Dhruv and Mia.
The other minor faction heads also arrived. But the four of them represented the biggest factions.
Charles seemed to be in deep thought as he kept tapping his chair.
Dhruv and Mia had a resigned expression on their faces.
William greeted the three and asked. "Why are you guys so down? This is not the first time Sarah skipped meetings."
Mia took a deep breath and shook her head. "J-just leave me alone, William. I might start a fight."
William turned to Dhruv. Unexpectedly, even the usually calm Dhruv looked at him with deadpan eyes.
"I-I see. You guys quarrelled or something." William shook his hands and sat down beside Charles.
"This is why dating is dangerous." He said with a profound expression.
"Ow! Senior William is so handsome."
"The best Senior!"
Even in the minor factions, he had some fangirls.
William flashed them a smile and turned to Charles.
"Are you worried?" He asked with a smirk.
Charles ignored him. He continued to browse a file on the Ruins.
William dropped the bombshell. "Varian beat your record, Charles. Everyone knows it."
Charles paused. He turned to William and stared into his eyes.
"William, you are the second in the list."
"Yes."
"Even if I can beat a hundred of you, you'd still be second. Because the third is worse than you." Charle's eyes flashes as a massive aura pressure descended on William.
William eyes widened and he hurriedly channeled his own aura to offset the pressure.
'He can already see the bottleneck?' William was shocked.
Charles was much stronger than he expected.
The other faction heads felt their conflict and distanced themselves.
Dhruv called him out. "Stop it, Charles! This is Dean's block. Show some respect."
"Dean's block?" Charles chuckled and extended his pressure onto Dhruv and Mia.
Instantly, their faces paled as they tried their best to fight back to no avail.
"Are you still in denial? I broke the rules so many times. Dean never said a word. In other words, he thinks I am useful to the federation than useless people like you." Charles lips curled.
"Just because we're in the same list doesn't mean our strengths are same. To me, you are still the same trash as that Varian." He said.
"Y-You'll be punished." William glared at him.
If Sarah was here, the four of them could put on a fight against Charles.
"Punishment? Haha. You idiots. The academy needs m—" Charles laughter paused abruptly.
His eyes turned to the entrance.
Evander arrived. Behind him were Sarah and Varian.
A huge pressure descended on Charles and—
Creak~
Despite his resistance, it forced him back to his seat.
Charles face paled and a trace of blood flowed down his lips.
But the most evident expression on his face was shock.
"W-Why?"
Didn't Evander acquiesce his actions as long as he was the strongest?
"Charles Xander, for serious violation of the rules, your cumulative points are slashed by 10%." Evander's voice reverberated.
The crowd fell silent.
...
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