Ace had already prepared the contract and gave it to him to sign, which made Ardent twitch as he used a mixture of his Etherion and a specialized pen to do it.
It was after that Ace told him what he wanted to hear: where the stew ca from and what was in it.
Ardent stared at him in shock for a while, as if he could not believe that Ace would say sothing like that. A monster brain? Seriously?
Ace rely shrugged. "I have it with . You can co along to see it yourself."
Ardent declined and told him to give him more drink and they would see each other the next morning.
Ace did not argue with him. He knew Ardent could not be under his control like that, if ever. He dropped a drink and then turned to go.
But Ardent stopped him. "You should wait where we first t. So of your strays are lost."
Ace nodded and went back to the place. This ti, there was nothing wrong with the forest, and he heard the sounds of birds and small animals.
And then he saw them, his team, House mbers.
His pawns.
When Ardent said the words earlier, he had a feeling it would be them.
Ethan saw him first. "Ace! Where the hell did you go? You entered the forest and disappeared. What happened?"
Ace shrugged. "It is no issue. The forest is under the control of the instructor. Let us go back now."
They shuddered faintly.
"You cannot just say sothing like that after you disappeared and appeared like that. Tell us sothing," Derrick said.
Even Julius nodded along. "At least let us know if we will be having an instructor or not."
Serena nodded. "Yes. Say sothing!"
"I want to hear as well," Celia chid in.
Ace nodded and began to walk. "Alright. This one ti, I will tell you everything. After all, it is with the collective efforts of everyone that it was made possible."
And so he did. He told them everything, from when he t the Mad Instructor in the forest and how the man had no presence until he left.
"So that bastard kept us trapped in the forest on purpose!" Derrick grumbled.
"What an interesting power. That is not sothing that is common. No wonder they sent him here instead of retiring him," Ethan pointed out.
Julius smiled. "So, we do have an instructor now."
Serena shuddered. "And it is a drunkard, mad one."
"If he can teach us well, then there is no problem. Also, think about it. We do not have to worry about instructors for the whole of our academy years. This is sothing I never thought could happen to ," Celia said.
Derrick clenched his fist. "I am so going to take advantage of this."
Ethan snorted. "Just be careful. He seems like a tough instructor, the type that will make you do extra work just for the fun of it, and the way his personality is, we will be having interesting days ahead, that is for sure."
Ace watched them talk, and he walked silently behind them, contemplating.
The House was completed in about four weeks.
During that period, the team mostly t at the training center to talk and train. But there was not really much to talk about, apart from the fact that students of their year class were beginning to show interest in the House.
But Ace did not want to just recruit.
Just like he told Julius, he wanted to strategize with the people he would allow into his House. Either way, he kept his eyes open for any quality candidates.
As for Instructor Ardent, the man was completely healed. The potency of the dark cloak’s brain was simply too powerful for the curse, and his bones stopped rusting.
The Academy seed to have settled down into motion, a routine of a kind where there was not anything particularly wrong. The only thing that stood in the way was the midterm test.
But it was not a big deal, especially for Ace and his team.
The test comprised written and practical, the fighting aspect.
The test was also the only period that the Academy would provide free instructors to give in-depth instructions on the progress of the students.
But, as usual, such things must be earned.
The reason they were doing it was simple. To be able to cross to the next level, a student must advance a stage. By using the test as a reminder, they would let the students know where they stood and how much ti was left to catch up.
It was also the ti when students would start focusing on how to advance to the next stage. It was about ti for the Academy to enter its busiest months.
But the Academy was not entirely cruel.
They gave students the chance to form groups to challenge the dungeons of the Field Zone.
It was effective in theory, but it was a mad dash in reality. Groups and teams had to fight just to clear dungeons.
This was also the ti when the importance of Houses would show itself. So areas were simply reserved for Houses; only they had the right to the dungeons in such areas.
Now, students had to fight for resources to advance, and the weaker students would fall off. Those who could advance to the next stage would cross the final examination at the end of the year.
Unlike most academies, Zenith wanted only the strong to advance; any other things were secondary.
And so, so of the students at different levels saw a chance, a way to reap rewards without much competition. There was a vulnerable lamb out there for slaughter.
And they all wanted it for themselves.
Ace and the others were training together as usual one evening when the door suddenly opened.
They all stopped.
All their mbers were in the training room. There should be no one joining them. The training center should not have allowed anyone who was not registered into their room.
But there it was, soone, a group of people crowded around their door and slowly entered.
Julius adjusted his glasses. "Slls like trouble."
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