’House of Ignis, huh...Thankfully, the plot hasn’t changed too much yet.’ Cassian heaved a sigh of relief, feeling a surge of confidence in the world of uncertainty before him. He was worried about the potential plotline change when Lucian underwent his house selection ceremony, but thankfully, everything went well. He was still chosen by the House of Ignis as their new member.
"A rivalry, huh?..." A small smile stretched across his face, imagining the irony of that word. An extra character with almost negligible presence in the entire story was being compared to the protagonist of the story itself. Now that was some major progress right there.
’All my hard work wasn’t for nothing, I guess.’ With a proud look, he posed a small smile on his face–a smile of accomplishment. However, the resolve to become stronger was burning stronger than ever within him.
’Lucky for you, I have more than enough food on my tables for now.’ For original chapters go to novel⦿fire.net
He had no plans on competing against that bastard–not unless he became a thorn in his future plans. Another thing was, he couldn’t compete yet anyway.
’I’m not powerful enough to defeat him in a hand-to-hand combat. The most I could do is outsmart him using my future knowledge, and that too has certain risk involved in it.’
"What do you think?" A sudden voice startled him from behind, breaking his inner thoughts. He had forgotten about a certain someone who was standing right beside him all this time. He glared at the voice’s owner and responded with a questioning look on his face.
"What do you mean?"
"You heard them, right?" Professor Vale replied, pointing at the crowd before her. "I’m talking about the ’rivalry’ thing between you and him." She still had that teasing look on her face as she muttered those words. She, too was interested in the debate that was currently ongoing within the crowd.
"There is nothing like that between us." Cassian casually stated with an indifferent look. In fact, He was cringing each time his title was being talked about between these individuals. It was tiring enough that he was the most popular candidate here, being the crown prince himself, and now people even started to attach that cringeworthy title beside his name.
Who the fuck even created a title like ’Above Heavens’ and ’Below Heavens’?
ughh–!
’What can I expect from a bunch of kids?’
"Oh, you think you are different than him?"
"Obviously." He replied, "I can’t compare myself with someone like him."
’Yeah right, he is a fucking protagonist and me? I’m just an unfortunate man with shit luck.
I’m not deluded enough to compare myself with him.’
While his inner monologue was arguing with himself, the smile on Prof. Vale’s face grew even wider upon hearing those words. She nodded her head and patted his shoulders, "Yeah. How can I compare the likes of him with you?"
She chuckled, waving her hand with a dismissive gesture. "Forget it. I have something else to tell you about."
Cassian felt like something was wrong with their conversation just now, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. ’My senses are tingling again, I hope it’s not a bad thing this time.’
He suppressed his paranoid thoughts from wandering too far and followed up with a question.
"And what might that be?"
"Hmm...firstly, do you want to stay here any longer and watch the entire ceremony, or would you like to meet with your House representatives now?" she asked, staring at him with her fiery amber eyes. Those pearl-like eyes of hers, despite looking absolutely mesmerizing, still held that deep bloodlust underneath that constantly reminded him of her title–the Scarlet Reaper.
He felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze, but, shrugging it off, he pondered over her question.
At first, he had planned to stay and meet up with all the main cast. To befriend them or at least be acquainted with them in some way. However, those thoughts were becoming a lot less appealing as he stayed here. His identity as the crown prince prevented him from approaching them directly.
Obviously, if a celebrity status person approaches you first and attempts to befriend you, you would feel quite suspicious and uncomfortable toward them.
Cassian couldn’t care less about other people’s thoughts, but if the person in question is suspicious himself, then it would become even harder for him to befriend them.
’I should take it slow and just maintain my distance for now. I know and understand them because I’ve read the novel. However, they don’t know me. Having them as enemies is the last thing I want in my quest to survive.’
He nodded his head in acceptance and swiftly came up with his answer to her question.
"Let’s leave." He replied, giving the ceremony one last glance. His eyes landed briefly on Lucian’s face before he retracted them and turned around.
’Anyway, I can just meet with the main cast directly in the classroom. Why bother staying here all day for them?’
He wasn’t wrong here since each student was assigned to a certain class depending on their abilities and choices.
The House system was established to encourage competition and foster greater growth among students, but ultimately, they still had to attend their classes in order to graduate from the academy.
Talking about classes, the classes inside the Academy were divided into four categories:
Section S–elite students with immense potential and equally powerful backgrounds.
Section A – exceptionally talented individuals who lacked either the heritage, combat record, or political backing to qualify for Section S, but who could rise through the ranks with performance.
Section B – competent students with decent abilities or theoretical excellence, often composed of nobles from minor houses or talented commoners.
Section C – the general student body. While not untalented, these individuals were often less experienced or simply late bloomers.
’Ahh...sounds so cliché and common, right? Talk with the Author then, not my problem.’
Chuckling at his own stupid humor, he continued with his thoughts.
’Naturally, I’ll be placed in Section S. They wouldn’t dare dump a royal in any lower category unless they wanted diplomatic headaches from the Empire.’
He felt that meeting the main cast was inevitable, and his fate would want it that way too.
"I’ll meet with the House representatives now." He replied, finalizing his decision.
He expected some reaction from her, but all he got was that teasing smile that never left her face.
If anything, it deepened into something sly. "I thought you might say that. Follow me then, Your Highness, ’Above Heavens.’"
Cassian flinched, a visible frown appearing across his face. "Tch. Stop calling me that."
"No can do," she teased. "You’re too fun to mess with."
With an annoyed expression across his face, he followed after her, exiting the ongoing ceremony.
They walked down a separate corridor that branched away from the central hall, leaving the cheers and announcements behind. Magic lights hovered on the sides of the arched hallway, casting gentle silver-blue glows that illuminated their path.
Cassian glanced sideways. "Isn’t this usually handled by the House professors?"
"Normally, yes. But yours hasn’t arrived yet. Professor Kaldris is... complicated." Vale rolled her eyes. "You’ll understand once you meet him."
Cassian raised an eyebrow. ’Kaldris... Wait. That’s the eccentric magician from the Goldspire Arc. The one obsessed with runic singularities and multidimensional spell theory.’
’If he’s the House Professor of Lux, things are going to get weirder than I expected.’
Cassian, being the cautious and calculating individual he was, began drawing information about Professor Kaldris from his memories.
The hallway was eerily silent, with only their footsteps echoing along the way. They continued their journey for around fifteen minutes until they reached a spiraling golden building.