Chapter 65: Electives [3]
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The next day.
After applying for Advanced Spellcasting, Brandon''s application was immediately epted.
Entering the lecture room, a burly man who seemed to be the Professor in charge stood on the podium.
Currently, he thoroughly scanned the document he was holding.
Flicking his eyes up, he called out for each student''s names then looked down to check for the next name.
He was taking attendance.
This persisted until a particr name was called up.
"...Brandon Locke."
"Present."
As soon as his voice became audible, all eyes tried to trace for the source of the voice.
Brandon had just entered the room. He currently stood at the back entrance.
And as soon he stepped forward to find a seat, all eyes were on him.
Brandon paid no heed to it and continued ascending the stairs.
He could feel all their gazes on him as he eventually sat down.
The lecture room was currently filled by second, third, and fourth year students.
But even the news about Brandon Locke''s performance had reached their circles.
He was the talk of the entire Academy, and it seemed like it wouldn''t die down for a while. But Brandon was already used to this as he breathed out a sigh.
The Professor continued to take the attendance.
Shortly after, Brandon''s attention was caught as the Professor called out for a familiar name.
"ire Victoria?"
But there was no response.
"No way."
Brandon muttered in disbelief.
From what he remembered, ire was supposed to choose a duelist type of elective.
Yet for some reason, her name was mentioned in the attendance list.
Could it have been a mistake?
"ire Victoria...?"
The Professor called again, looking left, then right, trying to find the specific person. "...ire Victo-"
"Present."
Before he could finish, a voice rang from the back entrance.
Everyone''s attention was immediately drawn towards the back where a figure stood.
With short purple hair and purple eyes, she stepped forward and ascended the stairs. All eyes fell on her as well, but not for the same reason as Brandon.
Paying no heed to it, ire continued to walk until she paused in front of Brandon. "...?"
Brandon cocked his head.
Tucking her lip under her teeth, ire''s voice reached his ears
"Good morning."
"...Good morning?"
Brandon was taken aback.
Nodding, ire pulled the seat and sat beside Brandon.
"''...''
Yet it seemed like the current situation was awkward, evident by the silent that ensued.
ire seemed reluctant to speak to him. Brandon broke the awkward silence first.
"...Why are you here?"
But to his surprise, ire-who supported her head with her hand, replied immediately.
"Because of you."
"Huh?"
"I heard what you did for Amy, and also for Rachel. If you didn''t know, the two are like sisters
to me. Thank you, and..."
She paused, biting her lip.
"Sorry."
"Sure, but sorry for what exactly?"
Brandon was taken aback once again.
The former was no new information to him, he already knew that from the novels.
But thetter?
He had no idea why ire was apologizing to him.
But his confusion was soon resolved as ire opened her mouth.
"At first, I thought of you as an ant. But it turns out, you are a much bigger ant. A bigger ant
than me."
"I guess what I''m saying is, I was wrong about you."
"Ah, that doesn''t really bother me."
Brandon just casually waved her off.
"Just ept the goddamn apology."
ire frowned.
"Also, the reason I''m here is because Amy and Rachel put me up to it."
"So it''s not your own choice?"
"Technically, it is. In the end, I was the one who sent the application form."
At that, Brandon finally got the gist of what happened.
"This is good.''
From what he remembered, ire wouldn''t have this kind of development during the first
year.
Once again, his involvement had significantly influenced the main cast, and for the better.
The first was igniting a friendly rivalry with Raven, so Raven would push himself into
improving faster.
The second, though he was quite unsure, would be Amy.
He knew Amy wasn''t a pushover. In fact, Amy was secretly more prideful than ire.
Her pride wouldn''t allow herself to let the incident weigh her down. Nor let the people around
her pity her.
If it meant that they would get this kind of development early on, then it was another step into changing the novel''s ending.
Snapping him out of his thoughts was the Professor''s voice who was still taking the
attendance.
It seemed like he went back to the top of the list, to check if the student was actuallyte or
absent.
But the name that came out of his mouth left Brandon stunned.
"Sarah Aurae?"
"Present."
Brandon''s head immediately flicked to the direction of the voice.
And as soon as he found her, their gazes met.
''I knew it. It is her.''
Brandon had actually forgotten about Sarah.
But now that he remembered, he was quite bbergasted that Sarah decided to stay in the
Academy.
Not only that, but she took the same elective as him.
An elective that wasn''t quite popr with the first years, due to its sheer difficulty.
But now that he thought about it, it wasn''t quite surprising at all.
"This girl...''
If she failed the elective, then she would be expelled.
But if she passes it, then it would mean she had significantly improved in her magic.
In other words, she was betting her chances.
Sarah was currently seated a few rows below Brandon.
Realizing, Brandon abruptly stood up and descended the stairs.
ire, who was taken aback, called out for him.
"Brandon? Where are you going?"
But Brandon didn''t respond.
All eyes were on him as he descended the stairs. The familiar ck ponytail came into view.
Hervender eyes instantly met Brandon''s gaze, but she immediately looked away.
And she seemed to be...
Shuddering.
In fear?
''Ah.''
Right, thest time she had met Brandon was when he wiped out her entire party, killing her
in the process.
It would make sense that Sarah was quite afraid of him.
But regardless, Brandon dismissed his thoughts.
To his convenience, the seat next to Sarah was unupied.
Thus, he decided to sit next to her.
He turned to look at her and opened his mouth.
"Sarah Aurae, huh?"
She didn''t respond. In fact, she was looking to the side, avoiding Brandon''s gaze.
"I know why you''re here." Immediately, Sarah''s body twitched as those words left Brandon''s mouth.
"Like I said back then. I''lle find you, and I did, which is why I''m here."
It sounded like a threat.
But for Brandon, he was merely teasing her.
Sarah''s entire figurepletely shuddered.
She then turned around to face him and stuttered.
"B-Brandon L-Locke, w-what a c-coincidence..."
Brandon waved her off and leaned back.
"Don''t worry, I''ll help you pass this ss."
Sarah tilted her head at his words.
"?"
"Your talent would be a waste if you were expelled."
Sarah looked down and frowned.
There was a reason why Brandon was so fixated in sound magic.
There were countless affinities, and Brandon knew that.
But what made the sound affinity so intriguing to him was because of its intangibility.
For him, it was one of the most versatile affinities.
Of course, the wind affinity had some simrities.
After all, it was an evolved form of the wind affinity.
If he were to be a seated member in the future, he would certainly prefer having a
subordinate with a sound affinity.
Snapping him out of his thoughts was ire, who had followed him down the stairs.
Alternating her gaze between the two, she sat down next to Brandon.
"Friend of yours?"
"Yeah."
"...No."
Brandon nodded, and Sarah frowned.
ire pinched her chin and turned to look at Brandon.
"Hm? I''ve never seen this side of you before."
"...?"
Brandon tilted his head in confusion. Sarah''s entire body shuddered in fear.
ire thoroughly scanned Sarah''s features, in which Sarah looked away.
"I see. So that''s your type, huh?"
She leaned back and breathed out a sigh.
"Someone I know would be disappointed. But nothing I can do about that."
"...?" Brandon tilted his head again, unable toprehend just what ire was saying.
Shrugging, Brandon turned to look at Sarah.
And she was...
Completely trembling.
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