Times when heirs of the Schwarz and Blanc clans fought for the Student Council President position were a rare occurrence, even in the 500-year history of the academy. It wasn't definite or visible power that mattered for the two clans, but a symbolic victory to secure their seemingly superior nature when in direct contrast to the other. In eras when it did take place, students had all harmoniously decided to pick a side to support, even if they were among the few who stayed neutral. It almost felt like a staged drama, a small-scale representation of the chronic political debate, where everyone quickly decided which side to support and simply begged that luck would bless them and not their enemy.
Yet, this time it was different. As the gossip began, it almost felt like nobody had an attitude that they wanted to display before others. Even the hardcore supporters of specific clans, mainly Year 3 students, remained silent as if nothing was happening.
After all, the duel was of significant importance to Amy's reputation as a whole, but the laughable part was that it was unfair from the beginning. She couldn't lose because of the utter shame of losing to a freshman who had only studied Rune Arts for less than half a year and had no combat abilities. Winning, on the other hand, was rather a responsibility than an honour. If she loses, she loses everything; if she wins, she wins nothing but the duel itself.
The election of the Student Council President position was fairly simple, determined by a score system consisting of three parties: non-anonymous voting by all students in the academy, a definite decision of favour from the senior staff members, and the opinion of the previous president, namely Arthur Paradox, in this case.
Due to the external factor named Nathan Modernson, nobody could truly choose their side before the duel took place. If Amy were to lose the duel for whatever random reason, it was almost certain that Jonathan Schwarz would abuse it to turn every party to support him.
Before too long, students began to question the purpose of this duel itself. They weren't aware of why it was even happening or who suggested it, and the few people who knew pretended that they also didn't. They made guesses that weren't quite far from the truth, almost all about how there was a dispute between the two, which wasn't necessarily a surprise when Nathan's identity was taken into account.
Compared to the students, most of the professors could not see this duel as more than a boring performance between two amateurs. They knew enough about the two clans to understand that who won the position did not matter much to the overall balance scale. If anything mattered, it was about personal pride and gain between the two individuals if they were to win.
The first-year students began class a week later than the other years due to the significantly lesser content that was taught. Clara Marshall scanned across her classroom. It didn't require her to have great vision to count to six and realise that someone who was supposed to be present was not.
"Oh great!" she exclaimed sarcastically, almost like a joke. "Nathan Modernson is wagging on the first day of class, what a surprise!"
"He is preparing for the duel next week," Leo called out from the back, spinning his pen while smiling in relaxation.
"He's inventing his Personalised Rune Art," Charlotte added lazily as she lay on the desk. Everyone else nodded and agreed disorderly.
Clara Marshall froze into the same expression as someone who had just seen pigs fly.
"Alright!" she voiced aloud. "Let's all ask ourselves honestly: Do we think that someone who had received constant zeros in fieldwork could invent a Personalised Rune Art?" But before anybody could give her an answer, she thought deeply again and continued, "Hm… maybe, now that I think about it. After all, he's got solid theory knowledge, which is far more important…"
Jennifer Lumendra rolled her eyes while looking out the window, knowing exactly how those full marks were earned.
"Anyway! Forget about him!" Clara announced as she drew her light wand and began projecting onto the blackboard, forming a clean table of data. "First thing! Results for midyears! I have to say, not that bad."
As always, Jennifer got full marks for both, and everyone else got solid results that were constantly above 80, even David Edmonds.
"Midyears are difficult; the other classes averaged around 60, which marks us quite far ahead. You all find the first term's content easy, huh?" Clara smiled dangerously, causing the students before her to look at each other in concern. "I have to disappoint you; it's unfortunately not enough."
She grabbed a paper from her desk and flicked her wand against it. A podium was projected onto the blackboard, along with a long list of names below it. Everyone instantly found Jennifer's name in second place, with Joseph Gravekin chilling in third and a name that nobody had even heard of in first place. The other Representative Students were scattered in the top 20 here and there, but that was clearly not meeting the expectations Clara set at the beginning of the year.
"Jennifer, you got full marks because your Rune Art Mastery deserves full marks." She pointed towards her name on the podium, then lifted it towards the name above her.
"This one, John Krymer, got full marks because that's as high as the scoring system goes."
Jennifer's grip on her pen tightened slightly, but her face remained unreadable.
"Look, Krymer is someone who could possibly earn himself a position among the Supreme Seven Seats, so I don't expect you to surpass him in terms of grades. Aside from him, however, your graduation requirements are still the same."
William and Monica began fantasising about what this John Krymer person would be like. Monica argued that he would be a fiery ambitionist, while William held the differing opinion that he would be one of those super nerd types who sat in the corner and spent his whole day flipping textbooks.
The lesson continued with Clara blabbering about how the second term was the true beginning of their study in Rune Arts and how the difficulty would multiply by digits. It was more of a check-up session with everyone and a chill time filled with restful conversations.
Simultaneously, at Nathan's room was something almost the opposite of that, with passionate paper scraps thrown around the room every few minutes. Nathan and Joseph sat among the shreds and spun their pens around their fingers, eyebrows furrowed as they stared at the new image they collectively illustrated.
"Nah, not good enough." Nathan shook his head and scrunched it up without hesitation, followed by a poorly aimed shot towards the distant bin.
"We've got time," Joseph lifted his falling glasses calmly. "As long as the thing you told me exists."
Nathan flicked one of the paper scraps to hit another. "Just trust me, dude. I've literally used it before, I just need you to help me retrieve it from the Rune Arts Federation," he lay back and said.
"'Stamped Runes'… I can ask my father to try, but there is no guarantee." Joseph sighed. "Don't you have a greater chance of persuading the officials?"
"Blanc's got spies in the Rune Arts Federation for sure…" Nathan yawned lazily. "I can't take the risk. Also, nobody is going to believe me if I just tell them I'm V's son." He looked at the wasted manuscripts on the ground and continued, "Surely we just let Charlotte do the free labour, I can't be bothered doing this."
"You really expect a girl like her to draw something intimidating?" Joseph persevered and continued tracing on a new paper. "Just leave it to me, you can take a rest."
"Let's be real, you just don't want to go to class," Nathan murmured quietly, causing Joseph to grin.
"By the way, you're not the one who killed Alisher, right?"
Nathan's half-closed eyes shot open, freezing in concern. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't care, but my grandmother does. She told me to ask." Joseph shrugged casually, unable to perceive Nathan's subtle anxiety.
Nathan didn't answer and instead stared at the ceiling blankly for a short while.
"Tell her it's Arthur Paradox's plan."
"Arthur is responsible for this?" Joseph's movement froze midair, leaving a small ink spot on the part he was illustrating. Thinking back to how Arthur reacted despite the displayed relationship between them, he felt odd about this truth, but he did believe it to some degree.
"I see… so that's what happened," he whispered, consciously making everything seem to make sense.
"It's not," Nathan said. "I'll tell you the truth, Jennifer killed him, but as for which version you tell your grandmother…"
"I understand," Joseph replied before Nathan could continue his sentence. His tone was steady and determined, something that wasn't usually displayed in his expressions.
"Joseph, you are an insider to me, no matter what is under discussion." Nathan looked at Joseph's eyes in a troubled manner. "And I believe your grandmother is an insider to you, too."
"Insiders have their own insiders," he swallowed. "And those insiders have their own insiders as well. Be careful, for your sake, for my sake, and for your grandmother's sake."
Joseph nodded with a grin. "Nathan, trust me." He scrunched up the paper and threw it precisely into the centre of the bin and swiftly snatched himself another copy.
"For these words alone, in this case, everyone but you is an outsider to me."
A gentle knock on the door interrupted their exchange. Nathan pulled himself up with difficulty and jogged to open it. Outside stood Charlotte, who was stunned by the impressive scenery on the floor.
"Oh Charlotte, come in, come in." Nathan, unbothered by the mess, invited as he got out of the way and gestured inside. "Let me guess, Marshall is mad."
Charlotte shook her head with a smile. "Not this time. Marshall does want to see Joseph though."
Joseph lifted the paper up and scanned the masterpiece he was finally satisfied with and looked towards their direction. "Huh? I hear my name?"
"Clara Marshall wants to see you," Charlotte explained. "Do you know where her office is?"
Joseph nodded and exhibited the figure he drew to Charlotte. "I'll go later. What do you think about this? Intimidating enough?"
Charlotte inspected the details of what Joseph drew meticulously. "Hmmm, the physique is nice, but it's missing the 'spirit'."
"Spirit?" Nathan and Joseph exchanged glances.
"Leave the rest to me, I'll add some improvement to it, and it will be perfect." She gently collected the sketch and nodded confidently, which put a reassuring smile on Nathan's face.
"On a separate note…" Charlotte turned towards Joseph and asked curiously, "Do you know someone called John Krymer?"
"John?" Joseph thought for some time. "I think not. Is he important or something?"
"I don't recognise that name either," Nathan added. "Is he a student?" Year 1 students whose names Nathan didn't know were quite rare.
"Don't be concerned. Just asking for the sake of William and Monica's bet," Charlotte replied. "You are probably going to be placed in the same class as him anyway. You'll know who he is eventually."
To aid Nathan with his Personalised Rune Arts, Joseph also made an excuse to skip the first class of the term, knowing it would not have any useful knowledge whatsoever. However, he did miss out on the score he got in midterms as well as the new class that he was placed in.
The midyear exam was a measuring scale that determined how strong a student's foundation was. Based on the results, the classes for all ordinary students were reshuffled into four different classes from rank A to D. Of course, any improvement or slacking would result in students being moved in and out of these ranks continuously. Joseph Gravekin, a star student who got ranked third in the whole year level, was undoubtedly placed in A class along with first-place John Krymer.
Charlotte summarised what Clara said in class to Nathan and Joseph quickly. Joseph didn't seem overly exhilarated to be placed so high. He shrugged it off, saying how "he secretly studied some Rune Arts theories before he even entered the academy."
Nathan, being Nathan, laughed haughtily at how they were stuck in the academy doing exams while he was out there having fun, which he continued when everyone was sharing their results and ranks for the exams at that night's club.
Daniel Whitedawn's result was mediocre at best, and he was placed into C, but Jay Short's effort paid off, and he got into A class just like Joseph. Year 1s were not that common in the Salvation Club, but a handful of them who joined following Nathan were scattered along the line.
When Joseph finally showed up, he brought news that the Representative Students weren't ready to hear: Apparently, he and John were scheduled to join their class for the highest degree of Rune Arts education there was. Nathan didn't quite see the need for that. After all, it was the private mentors who truly defined the students' success in the Imperial Academy.
Nonetheless, he was thrilled to have another one of his closest mates join his class and that Jennifer no longer needed to sit alone. As for who this John Krymer person everyone was talking about was, he guessed he had to find out a week later.