"Who's that?" Vale whispered to Glenda. This lady must be of high status to act so brazenly. Even ignoring the way she spoke to the Lord of Druti, her aura alone was immense; not suffocating, but all encompassing.
"She's just an acquaintance," Glenda said with a bittersweet smile.
Vale could tell something was amiss, but since she had no intention of sharing, he didn't press any further.
The match had officially ended, and Vale was guided off the stage. The medics had come, but he didn't let them carry him away. Apart from the fact that the assassin could very well be hiding amongst them, he wanted to thank the military lady personally, after all, she had saved his life.
Vale could sense that she wanted him to follow her, and together with Glenda, they headed to the VIP section.
Before Vale could even get a place to sit, she said, "Is it true that you were assigned a class yesterday?"
Vale nodded. "Yes, it's been hardly over a day now."
The lady squinted her eyes. "I can tell you aren't lying, but that still feels unbelievable."
"Why so?" Vale raised a brow.
"Well after getting a class, it normally takes a year or two to be able to learn how to use it well in battle. Take that Ariella girl for example. She got her class at eleven and trained on how to use her class for five years."
She paused, and her eyes scrutinised Vale. "You, on the other hand, can fight with so much skill. It's quite hard to believe that you have no prior experience to speak of."
"Well my parents taught me a few things about fighting, so I wouldn't say I have no prior experience," Vale said with an awkward laugh.
This woman is clearly suspicious of me, I guess I may have stood out too much.
He hadn't thought anyone would notice, but this lady did. He had to be more careful in the future, lest he expose himself as a transmigrator.
If that happened, then the best-case scenario was getting turned into a lab rat.
Then the lady seemed to realise something and said with a smile, "I forgot to introduce myself."
"I'm Athena, but you should call me Roxy. That's what all my students call me after all."
She whipped her hair back and wore a bright smile. If Vale had chosen to ignore it before, then he couldn't anymore: she was really gorgeous.
Even more so than Iris: her eyes were a deep red, crimson to be exact. Her silver hair flowed down, complementing her rosy skin.
But more than the beauty was the authority that she silently commanded; a single look from her infused Vale with the urge to look down. This may have just been a result of a demeanour or something else.
"Your students? You want me to become one of your students?" Vale asked.
This was something he had already inferred, but she said it so brazenly, as if she didn't see the possibility of him refusing her offer.
"Of course, I wouldn't have helped you if I didn't want that. I was sceptical at first, but from what I heard about you from Glenda I was able to make a decision."
Vale raised a brow and looked at Glenda who was watching the next match.
"Although she's no longer my student, I feel I should still thank you for saving her life."
"She was your student?" he asked, surprise written all over his face.
Roxy looked younger than Glenda, making it strange that the younger woman had once been the older one's teacher.
"Yeah, that was until she chose to betray the military college and sold herself to that hunter's sloop." Her voice had grown intentionally louder at the end, but Glenda just acted as if she couldn't hear her.
"I only have a day to spend here, so we'll be moving to the HQ tomorrow."
"Wait, but I haven't even agreed to that…"
Roxy's forehead creased. "What do you mean by that? Even if you wanted to go to Hunter College, that won't be possible since you lost."
Only then did the reality of losing truly hit Vale; he hadn't even seen it as a possibility. Losing to some kids who were still learning how to use their class was humiliating to say the least.
But there was nothing he could do, he had to get stronger.
"You know," Roxy said, getting his attention. "A year from now there will be a contest where all the students from different colleges will go toe to toe against each other. If you can get strong enough, then there's a chance you'll be able to get back at that Aster boy."
Vale's fingers dug into his palm; he really wanted to rip off that arrogant look on Aster's face.
He wasn't one to hold grudges, but he certainly had no plans of forgiving someone who had openly tried to kill him.
If he had an opportunity to get his revenge then he would do just that.
Roxy took out a cigarette from her breast pocket and lit it with her finger.
"The military has everything the hunters' guild has and more. We just aren't as bothered with advertising ourselves as they are."
Seeing as the only options were to remain in his backwater village for another year or to take her offer, he could only sigh and come to a decision. Besides, he didn't care if it was hunters or military, as long as they could make him grow stronger he would go with them
From the unknown killer to the star boy, he needed strength to take care of any of them.
"So? I figure you've made up your mind."
Vale nodded. "As long as you can make me stronger then I'll become your student."
Her mouth slowly twisted into a wide grin. "Then you wouldn't be disappointed."
The matches soon came to an end and everyone started leaving the stadium.
There were a few people from other colleges who had set their sights on Vale but when they saw him leaving with Roxy, they could only curse and shake their heads.
As they headed out, they were met by a few other people. These were also members of the Military College and each of them had a participant with them. Vale even saw Jack standing next to a handsome blonde man.
Roxy went to chat with the man for a moment, before returning.
"We're planning on leaving today. Do you have any relatives you wish to say goodbye to?"
Vale thought for a second, but shook his head. There was Iris, but with his current stalker situation, he would want to have as little contact with her as possible.
Roxy nodded, but Glenda frowned.
"You aren't going to inform Iris?" she asked.
Vale didn't reply, he just squeezed a piece of paper into her hand.
"Give this to her for me."
Glenda seemed to notice something was wrong as she nodded.
"Okay then, we'll be leaving now. The journey's long so we've got to move fast," Roxy said, flicking away her finished cigarette.
Vale parted ways with Glenda, then he and Roxy headed to a group of carriages that each had the words Military College engraved on their frame.
Again, he felt that itch on his back. This just made him more certain that he couldn't contact Iris. He didn't want someone like her to get involved in this matter. If he had a choice, he would definitely have gone to say goodbye as she had helped him a lot.
"Quite the attention you've attracted."
"What did you say?" Vale asked as he was lost in thought.
"Someone wants to kill you, and they don't seem to be hiding it."
"You can tell?" Vale's expression was full of surprise.
"Well, they aren't exactly trying to hide themselves. Don't worry, if they follow us, we'll get rid of them."
Vale could finally sigh in relief. Being with such powerful people would surely deter anyone who had negative intentions towards him.
But what he wouldn't be able to predict was that this person had no intention of backing down.
Even if it would cost her life, she would make sure to kill him.
[Author's note: Ten power stones and I'll post an extra chapter this week.]