Free Web NovelChapter 32: The Future Ace Team
The following morning, the first day of the official weekend break, Silas stepped out of his dormitory feeling unexpectedly energised.
For the first time, he wondered who else he should recruit. And Cher’s face briefly surfaced in his mind.
Yet he dismissed the thought almost immediately. Even if he shared some talk with her back at the infirmary, he felt like it wasn’t enough to consider her a friend. After all, he never had another moment with her after that point onward. And...
"She’s ranked second," he muttered. "And she’s an L-Enhancer."
Silas had asked Darius what L-Enhancer meant, and the answer had left him speechless.
Legacy Enhancers were direct descendants of those who had once stood among the ten strongest people in the world. Their status was inherited through blood rather than earned through effort.
And Cher was one of those fortunate few.
According to Darius, she possessed not one but four ancestors who had belonged to that legendary group, including her own grandfather.
At the same time, it raised another question: Just how influential was Darius’s family if he could casually speak of such matters as though they were common knowledge?
"Silas, over here!"
A map appeared on his wristwatch, guiding him toward one of the academy’s massive stadiums. The structure was enormous, large enough to accommodate hundreds of students without difficulty.
The moment he stepped inside, he heard a familiar voice. Darius emerged from the crowd, waving enthusiastically. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
The stadium was already packed. Silas recognised several faces among the gathered students: Leopard and the other G-Enhancers, a few classmates from the classes he had attended during the past week, and, finally, Cher.
Most students had already formed small groups, though a handful remained alone. Oddly enough, Cher was not one of them. Even stranger, she was standing beside someone Silas recognised all too well: Lara.
Darius approached with a grin, drawing more attention than necessary.
"I thought you weren’t coming."
He raised a closed fist, waiting for Silas to return the gesture. Silas merely glanced at it before shifting his gaze around the stadium.
"Looks like everyone showed up."
"It was inevitable," Darius said, unfazed by the failure of his greeting move. "Some are excited after hearing the news, while others are still hesitant. Either way, a teacher should be here soon to explain everything."
Then he leaned closer.
"Until then, we need to move."
Silas raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"What? You don’t expect people to flood our team without putting in some effort first." Darius cleared his throat dramatically. "I know socialising isn’t exactly your strength. Whether that’s habit or personality, I can’t tell. Leave the talking to me."
Silas rolled his eyes.
"Is that really necessary?"
Darius thumped a fist against his chest.
"Trust me. The last thing we want is whatever scraps everyone else leaves behind. Besides..." He grinned. "Our team is led by one of Lisan Al-Gaia. That alone is worth advertising."
Before Silas could object, Darius disappeared into the crowd. Soon afterwards, Silas noticed people glancing in his direction before quickly looking away.
At first, the attention was irritating. Eventually, however, he stopped caring.
Perhaps he had simply grown accustomed to suspicious stares, or perhaps the hours he spent meditating each day were beginning to change him. Either way, the surrounding noise gradually faded, leaving behind an unexpected clarity.
When he looked around again, he noticed a pattern: students gravitated toward familiarity.
The G-Enhancers had gathered together, their numbers having grown from fifteen to eighteen. Silas couldn’t tell whether the increase came from people like Darius, who had simply excluded themselves from standing with the group before, or whether they had recruited several promising students into their ranks.
Elsewhere, teams were already forming long before the teacher’s arrival. Rankings attracted rankings, as students close in ranking to each other stuck together.
’Darius had been right.’
Silas now realised that if they waited too long, they would be left with whoever remained. Then his gaze drifted toward Cher, curious to see what she was planning to do.
As though sensing it, she looked directly at him. Their eyes met for a brief moment. Then Cher looked away.
Silas doubted it was a coincidence. Yet he found it equally difficult to believe that someone like her would remember their brief encounter from several days ago. Then his attention shifted toward Lara standing by her side.
The eccentric Tamer immediately noticed him and waved with alarming enthusiasm. When she nudged Cher, pointed toward him, and whispered something into her ear, Silas promptly looked elsewhere.
Even during Monster Studies class, Lara had insisted on lingering near him despite their limited interactions, behaving less like a classmate and more like an unusually persistent stalker.
’What exactly had brought her and Cher together?’
He had no answer.
"Screw those losers."
Nearly half an hour later, Darius returned. He had managed to recruit exactly one person.
"I invited everyone to join the future greatest team in the academy, THE FUTURE ACE TEAM," Darius declared loudly. "The team that’s going to shock everyone."
Silas stared at him in silence.
"Anyway," Darius continued, "I found a real gem."
He gestured toward the student beside him.
"This is Alfred."
The newcomer possessed a sturdy build comparable to Darius’s, though his muscles were bulkier. And for a reason, Silas felt like he hailed from a military background thanks to his weird gait and firm straightness when he stood by their side.
Not to mention, he didn’t say a word even when Darius was speaking about him.
"He’s a Hunter," Darius said proudly. "But that’s not all. His mutation lets him cover the upper half of his body in thick scales. He’s basically a walking shield."
Silas studied Alfred with interest. Someone capable of enduring direct attacks would have made their previous monster encounters back at the admission test considerably easier.
At the very least, they were now only two members short of a complete team.
He didn’t even ask about Alfred’s ranking. Whatever it was, abilities like his would prove useful. Silas found himself wondering how those scales would fare against Raven’s daggers.
Before anyone could continue the conversation, a teacher stepped forward. He was the youngest instructor Silas had seen since arriving at the academy. And obviously, nervousness radiated from him.
Standing before the large number of students who surrounded him, the teacher glanced around as though expecting disaster at any moment before launching into his explanation at astonishing speed.
"The academy hasn’t announced the date yet, but teams will participate in an upcoming outfield mission. You must submit your team lists before sunset. I’ll be waiting near the Fighting Class entrance."
He spoke as though reciting memorised lines.
"I also recommend including at least one Hunter, Tamer, Mage, and Buffer in each team. Teams may consist of five to nine members."
Without introducing himself or accepting questions, he hurried away. And awkward silence lingered behind him.
"That was... something," Darius muttered.
Then Leopard stepped forward.
"I know the teacher wasn’t exactly thorough," he said. "Allow me to explain what I’ve learned through my connections."
Silas resisted the urge to roll his eyes. While much of Leopard’s information had already been shared during Fighting Class, one detail caught his attention. The teams formed today were not temporary arrangements for a single mission. They would remain together throughout their years at the academy.
That meant future missions, rankings, and evaluations would all revolve around these teams. And that made Silas frown.
’So our future ranking will depend on the performance of the teams we form and join today?’
The implications were obvious and quite dangerous.
’Isn’t it going to be like the strong simply become stronger?’
’Won’t groups like the G-Enhancers gain even greater influence?’
His gaze drifted toward Darius. Despite being one of the G-Enhancers, Darius had never behaved that way.
"We still need two members."
Alfred’s words brought an awkward silence. Darius had done everything he could, even attempting to bribe students with crystals. As for Silas, giving speeches in front of strangers ranked among the last things he wanted to do.
"We need to move quickly," Alfred moved his eyes between the two. And unintentionally, his voice came a bit higher than he intended to. "Otherwise, only the weakest students will be left."
"Hahaha! Then let’s help the future Ace Team shine."
A familiar voice suddenly interrupted them. As Silas turned, he recognised him right on the spot. It was Montar.
"What do you think you’re doing?" Darius asked coldly.
"What? I’m helping a friend in need, what else?"
Montar dragged over a chair, climbed on top of it, and shouted for everyone to hear.
"The future Ace Team is looking for two members! It’s led by one of Lisan Al-Gaia and already has a G-Enhancer who turned down my invitation. Surely someone here is interested?"
Silas sensed there was surely a history between Montar and Darius. Ignoring that, he observed the crowd, as attention had been forced upon them once again. Perhaps it would actually work.
Darius, meanwhile, looked ready to punch Montar in the face. Then, before he could decide between violence and insults, another voice echoed through the stadium.
"An Ace Team should be something truly special."
Silas froze, as he recognised that voice immediately. Without the need to look to confirm it, he knew Lara was walking toward them. And when he turned to confirm, he saw her doing so with a bright smile.
Then a realisation struck him.
’Wasn’t she standing with Cher?’
He subconsciously moved his eyes towards the person walking by Lara’s side. It was indeed Cher.
’Will she join my team? No way, right?’
Before he could process this wild thought through, Lara and Cher stopped few metres away from him.
"So," Lara said cheerfully, "how about this? My dear friend and I join the Ace Team."
She wrapped an arm around Cher before the latter could react.
"That way, the Ace Team will have two members from Lisan Al-Gaia, one of whom is a L-Enhancer, plus two G-Enhancers."
Lara’s smile widened.
"Isn’t that marvellous, Montar?"
