“Melissa and Xavier are the other two in our class. Melissa is Eddie’s rival, but she’s not as good as him, so it’s mostly one-sided,” August spoke as the two continued their tour of the academy. “She only cares if you’re strong, but she’s a bit biased against commoners. Xavier doesn’t bother with anyone so if he seems uninterested in you just know he’s always like that.”

Emil had discovered that August was highly talkative and popular around the academy. According to him, he had only been enrolled here for a year now, but he seemed to know everyone on campus. He also seemed to know everything about everyone. He would occasionally point to someone and mention their name, attribute, and ranking as well as a brief story about them. Or after someone came up to them, he would do the same.

He’s intelligent and observant with an excellent memory. I need to be careful about what I say around him. Emil picked up on this quickly. August seemed to act carefree, but Emil had sensed that his personality went deeper than that. Anyone personally selected by a Demigod isn’t normal, after all.

August went on to mention that Xavier was at the top of the Aurum rank while Melissa was a step behind Eddie. None of them exceeded the age of forty. Each of the four was an undeniable genius.

This included August. He was only sixteen and at the second tier of the Aurum rank, two pieces of information he had casually mentioned separately from each other.

Emil glanced at the teen through the corner of his eye, seeing the sword that was hanging at his side. Admittedly, he was curious about August’s strength.

“I need to show you how to properly use your special access to the library. We might run into Xavier at the there. His nose is always buried in a book,” August, unaware of Emil’s scrutiny, continued to ramble. “He will ignore us. Maybe a glance. But at least you’ll know who he is.”

“How long has Xavier been under Headmaster Seth’s tutelage?”

“Five years. Melissa and Eddie have been here for fifteen.” August didn’t think long before he spoke.

“Oh. You never mentioned what their attributes were,” Emil said, not wanting to miss out on any information.

“You’re right! Eddie’s a dual fire and earth attribute. Melissa’s metal. Xavier has the darkness affinity. I’m a tri-attribute. Ice, light, and water.”

“Wow.” Emil took another look at August. Even though he’d never mention that he had an affinity with every element, Emil knew how impressive having two attributes was. Three were even rarer.

“Yours?”

“Space and time.”

August’s brows shot up. “Let me ride on your coattails, brother.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Why?” Emil frowned.

“Because, not only did the headmaster make an exception for you, you have the rarest affinities. You’re someone great. If not now, certainly later.”

“Speak for yourself.”

August smiled awkwardly and scratched his head. “Well… anyway. This is the library coming up.” He pointed towards a building that was like a miniature version of the Headmaster’s Tower. “Freshmen have access to the first floor only. Sophomores first and second. Juniors, all the above plus the third floor. I’m sure you can guess what the seniors get. We have access up to the tenth floor—there are twelve floors total. Even the teachers can’t go on the eleventh or twelfth floor, only those with explicit permission from Headmaster Seth can.”

“The special course gets a lot of benefits.” They had their own private labs, so they didn’t have to rent them like other students. They got discounts at the supply market plus access to higher grade items. They didn’t pay tuition and received a stipend instead. They lived in a private manor. They didn’t attend classes… Emil was wondering if it was better to call them freeloaders. He had been expecting to study seriously here and attend the famed “school” he had heard tales about. “We’re barely students,” he joked.

August laughed at Emil and patted his shoulder. “Kid, I don’t think you get it.”

“Maybe not,” Emil said. “Also, I’m only a year younger than you.”

“Listen. We are the personal students of a Demigod. Okay? A Demigod. One of the most powerful existences in the world. Do you know why?”

“Because we’re talented.”

August seemed exasperated. “Yes, but no. It's our potential. They want to aid us to grow as strong as we can be so that we join their side. Headmaster Seth has an organization behind him. They do all of this, so we don’t go somewhere else. Powerful people—I’m talking Pura and Terra ranks—want us to join their side because they know what we can become in the future. But the academy makes sure that we get better benefits than what anyone else can offer. They have a damn good system. Even if we don’t join the Church of the Silver Order, most of the alumni maintain a good relationship and would help in times of need. This bolsters their strength, making them the top church out of the rest. Make sense?”

Emil nodded, understanding better.

Right. There are people like Ilya out there. And the other members of Octagram must follow different Gods as well. All of them are in competition with each other. Geniuses like Eddie are sure to go far in the future, so of course, they’d want them to follow their God or at least be aligned to their side and know they won’t aide others.

The world started to grow smaller in Emil’s mind.

It’s all connected. Seth doesn’t recruit rare talents just to shower them with resources. There’s a reason.

Emil was about to say something else when a loud shout interrupted him, “Everyone! Lady Melissa is challenging Sir Edward to a quick match! It’s starting soon!”

After the excited yell amplified with magic rung throughout the campus, a large group of students stopped what they were doing and started rushing off the same direction.

“Oh, this is fun,” August said, a lazy smirk spreading on his face.

“Melissa and Edward? From the special course?” Emil questioned. “A duel?”

“Students can issue matches with each other. It was meant as a way for us to gain combat experience, but most people use it to settle grudges. Other students can watch it. After all, how many times do you get to see two Adamentem ranks battle? You can learn a lot by watching them.” August scratched his nose. “To be honest, this is probably a show they’re putting on for you.”

“For me?”

“Yup. To teach you your place, rookie,” August said. He slapped his hand against Emil’s shoulder and laughed. “We don’t have to go. Then they’ll look like a pair of idiots. Which is also fun.”

Emil shook his head. “No, I’d like to see.”

Like August said, it wasn’t often that he’d be able to see such powerful people fight. And, Emil was curious about what Headmaster Seth’s geniuses were like.