Many seconds after Vadryn had left, Emir stood up as well, about to head to class.
But, just as he crossed the door, he saw a blonde-haired man waiting for him to the side.
It was Aquila, always casual, and with that easy grin of his, it appeared that he had co in to ask for sothing.
"Hey, Emir."
Emir raised his chin at him and gestured for them to move.
"What's got you grinning like that?"
Aquila let loose his crossing arms and walked behind Emir.
"Well, I heard you guys are showing us off soon."
Emir nodded, not at all surprised by the fact that he knew.
"Yeah, that's right. Might even do it today."
Aquila's grin widened.
"Yeah, about that... I've been thinking."
Emir watched him carefully.
"That's new. And?"
Ignoring that jab, Aquila shifted his weight, eyes flicking up to the ceiling as if debating how to word his request.
"Well, you rember our deal, right?"
"The favor, you an?"
Emir asked, the amusent in his voice evident.
"...Yes."
"Heh, you're not here to steal all the best students for yourself, are you?"
Aquila laughed.
"Nah... well, actually yeah, it's exactly like that. I want you to recomnd every student from your class to join my hunter group."
Emir blinked, genuinely surprised.
"Your hunter group, huh?"
"Yeah."
Aquila confird.
"You know, I've got a lot of plans going forward, and having them co by, check the place out, will help a lot, boosting our new recruits."
Nodding, Emir stepped into the lobby, the elevator already being called up.
"I get it. Elite students bring interest wherever they go, so even if they don't like what they see, you'll benefit from the sheep that follow."
"Exactly. And if they've got even a tiny bit of the sharpness you have, I'd take them in any day."
"There's no need to butter up... complints don't work on ."
Emir chuckled, his expression softening as he regarded the request.
"This isn't exactly a small favor."
Ting!
As the elevator arrived and they entered, Aquila's expression turned a bit more serious, though his smile never fully faded.
"I know. But look, after what happened with the disaster, I—"
Emir tapped his shoulder, interrupting him, and said:
"There's no need for that. Without even directly asking or saying anything-you lowered
the value of that favor I owed, and that's rare in this world.
Aquila looked at him with raised brows.
"...Is that to say, you accept."
"Sensible people deserve good things."
His earlier smile returned to adorn Aquila's face.
"Good, good, good. So, I'm counting on you then."
"I'll make sure they get the ssage."
As Emir said those words, they reached the fourth floor, and he stepped out, leaving Aquila alone in the elevator.
"Appreciate it. I'll catch you later, man."
Emir waved him goodbye, then began walking down the hall while glancing at his internal clock.
Class was starting in no more than thirty seconds.
He slowed his steps, anticipating the speed he needed to move at to reach the class exactly on
ti.
It was a thing he liked to do, a way to appease his OCD and calm his mind.
When he reached, right on ti as expected, and entered the classroom, the students' eyes flicked toward him like hawks eyeing prey.
Though these hawks looked more fearful than anything, afraid of this 'prey' before them, or rather perhaps more afraid of what he was about to reveal.
The results.
All the students knew today was the day-the day they'd either go ho crying or 'grinning from ear to ear.'
For so, whether they had passed or failed didn't even matter anymore, they just wanted to get it over with.
And Emir, understanding their woes, actually attempted to relieve them for once, not prolonging their suffering like he usually did.
Why he did that was unknown, but perhaps it was just a way to show his appreciation to the
class.
After all, the results were surprising, in a good way.
"Alright, good morning everyone, listen up."
Without wasting any ti, Emir started, his voice cutting through the quiet room.
"Before I go over the test and rankings, know that I'm proud of most of you. You've worked
hard and proved to that teaching you was worth it."
Everyone in the class was extrely shocked at his words.
The last ti he complinted them was two months ago, before the Major Disaster, so they had almost forgotten that he could do such a thing.
Especially not praise that was as direct as this.
"Look here."
Emir, not minding their reactions, tapped the screen behind him, and a list of blurred nas
popped up.
Shaking off their spiraling thoughts, the students imdiately focused, and leaned forward, eyes glued to the floating leaderboard.
"First up..."
Emir gestured at the hologram, dramatically pausing as the first na was revealed.
"We have Arthur."
The room was still for a mont, the na hanging in the air as everyone processed it.
Arthur, of all people, had taken the top spot.
How?
That question rang in everyone's mind.
Especially Sofia, who repeatedly blinked in disbelief, appearing like a malfunctioning cyborg.
She had expected to hear her na first, maybe Elijah's.
But Arthur? That was a shock, to say the least.
"No way... Did Sofia really get beat?"
"She didn't. I know the prof is ssing with us."
"He has to be... right?"
"Maybe he che-"
"Don't."
There was a brief echo of whispers among the students, and Sofia couldn't help but stare at
Arthur.
She knew the guy had changed, but this was... unreal.
He seed to catch her eye for a second, but quickly looked away.
Dumbfounded, Sofia looked down.
Was this so kind of joke?
She felt a knot form in her stomach.
Unlike the rest, she didn't want to entertain the thought of him cheating, but there just
seed to be no other way for this to have happened.
Nobody, except that one dumb student, dared to say it aloud, though.
They knew Emir wouldn't tolerate such talk.
"Arthur did what he had to do to get there."
Emir's tone left no room for argunt.
"Now, next up is Sofia Alexander."
Sofia's heart skipped a beat.
She expected her na to be called, but hearing it still made her stomach flip.
Her rank wasn't a surprise, everyone expected it, unlike Arthur's.
She saw the others looking at her now, waiting for so kind of reaction, but she gave them
nothing but a nod.
Yet, that was enough for them, they all knew how close she'd been, how hard she'd worked.
Most felt that it was unfair to see Arthur's na above hers.
They barely saw the guy in the training hall.
Whatever technique he stumbled upon must've been groundbreaking because, if he didn't
cheat, then he had to have gotten so sort of insane boost.
But then, as their thoughts went wild with theories, an 'unnad' student raised her hand,
giving them pause.
"S-Sir."
Emir silently looked at her, she flinched, but continued, understanding that it was his way of
giving permission:
"Both Sofia and Arthur have 'first' beside their na, i-is that a mistake?"
He smiled and calmly shook his head.
"No. Arthur might've submitted it earlier, but Sofia did it better, displaying a secret I hid.
When all is taken into consideration, both deserve to be first."
The stuttering girl nodded, thanking him for answering, while the rest of the class let out
sighs of relief, knowing that the status quo wasn't disrupted.
Sofia had remained as the ice queen.
anwhile, the so-called ice queen herself, gave no reaction.
She simply stared at Emir, waiting for him to announce the rest, seemingly wanting to get
this over with.
Complying with her silent want, he gestured at the third na and said:
"Second, we have Elijah Oliver."
No surprise there, as everyone had expected Elijah to be in the top spots.
He had consistently proven his skill, and even Sofia couldn't deny that.
But then ca another surprise.
"And, in third place, Xavier Junior."
There was a collective gasp, a stunned silence filling the room.
Junior? Ranking this high? It was unheard of.
And not only that, to have 'two' impure students in the top three was absolutely unprecedented in an Elite class.
The entire room was buzzing now, their disbelief palpable.
So students couldn't hide their shock.
"Two impure in the top four..."
"That's gotta be a first."
"Unbelievable."
Again, Emir didn't care for their reactions and continued:
"We have Aria GoldLeaf in fourth, Ava Nguyen in fifth, Max Blackwood in sixth, and Quinn in
seventh."
The reactions were much calr now, the students nodding, taking in the nas with less
shock and more acceptance.
As Emir clicked through the ranks, the murmurs continued.
But then he froze, turning his eyes to the students.
"Now for the big change."
With those words, the room quieted imdiately.
"Rank one: Sofia Alexander."
Sofia's breath caught in her throat as her na appeared at the top of the list.
Absolute pride surged through her.
"Rank two: Elijah Oliver."
She was still on cloud nine from her ranking, but she noticed Elijah's expression-he looked
satisfied, but not surprised.
He had earned it.
"Rank three: Aria GoldLeaf."
The room was still for a mont before the quiet buzz returned.
Max was dethroned.
Though that wasn't too unexpected, the boy lacked theoretical knowledge. Especially when compared to Aria, who undoubtedly put in an unhealthy amount of work the
past two months.
"Rank four: Max Blackwood."
"Rank five: Xavier Junior."
"Rank six: Ava Nguyen."
"Rank seven: "Rank eight:
"Rank nine:..."
As the rankings continued, the students listened intently, so muttering to each other, but
all focused on what this would an for their futures.
But one girl did more so than the others.
"Rank seventeen: Quinn rcer."
The results of her extre effort were out, and her world had changed forever.
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