Chapter 38 - A Proposal
"That’s right, I saw you during the evaluation—you were so good that it’s suspicious why you are in the lower-class."
Crystal said to Zion, nodding her head.
She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, her sharp eyes fixed on him as if trying to solve a puzzle that didn’t make any sense to her.
Then for the first time since she arrived—her eyes finally landed on me. Toward where I was leaning against the stone corridor wall, holding my juice can in one hand.
"You too... why are two monsters in the lower-class?"
She asked, squinting her eyes at us.
Her voice carried intense curiosity, clearly unable to wrap her head around how Class 1-F ended up with students who placed so high on the physical exams.
"Haha, I was not this strong before when I enrolled and got the scholarship—I just trained really hard until the academy started."
Zion said with a small chuckle, his words were true and honest.
"Same for me."
I just shrugged and followed with that. I took a slow sip of my juice, keeping my expression entirely relaxed while letting the short explanation stand on its own.
"..."
Crystal just looked at the two of us suspiciously, but she didn’t say anything about it.
She just shook her head, then bringing her attention back to Zion—
"Anyway, I’m here to give you a proposal."
She declared that. Her tone shifted instantly back to a business-like seriousness, leaving no room for lighthearted banter.
"Proposal for what?"
Zion asked, tilting his head slightly in confusion.
"Did you notice that the professors are acting busy? Most of them are leaving and dismissing class fast, especially those who specializes in combat."
She asked, looking directly into Zion’s eyes to see if he had picked up on the subtle changes across the campus over the past few days.
Zion nodded his head, noticing that Professor Russel and Professor Ulfar acted like they were in a hurry earlier.
Both instructors had wrapped up their sessions with extreme efficiency, handing out schedules or practical grades before immediately heading toward the main administrative wing.
"What about that?"
"Well... that’s because they’re preparing for a test."
Crystal said in a barely audible voice.
She lowered her volume slightly, glancing left and right down the quiet hallway to ensure no other passing students were overhearing her words.
And before Zion could even ask—
"At the end of the month, all freshmen will be tested... it will be a group test of up to five students."
She added that.
The information was delivered with absolute confidence, dropping a major piece of early narrative intel right into our laps.
"Now here’s my proposal; I will let you in with all the information I know about the test, the fact that I informed you of this is already a big information."
She paused for a brief second, letting the weight of the advance warning sink in before laying out her terms.
"But in exchange for that—team up with me in the test."
Crystal didn’t let Zion speak at all and she just laid her proposal simple and clean.
She stood tall, placing a hand on her hip as she waited for a response, confident that the offer of insider knowledge was far too valuable for anyone to pass up.
"..."
Zion didn’t answer immediately, he has this serious look on his face as he thinks about the proposal.
He lowered his food, looking down at the stone floor as he weighed the pros and cons of agreeing to an official team setup so early in the semester.
I just watched as the two of them converse, not saying anything.
I took another quiet bite of my sweet roll, enjoying the familiar beat of the story playing out exactly as I remembered it from the game timeline.
Then all of a sudden—
Zion snapped his head toward me, his brow furrowed in deep thought.
"What do you think, Vael? Should we team up with her?"
Zion turned to me and asked that with a straight face.
"...?"
I was surprised, confused even. My hand froze halfway to my mouth, the juice can hovering in mid-air as I stared back at him in complete shock.
My brow raised, and at his question—Crystal looked at me too, waiting for my answer!
It seems like when Zion heard that the test will be a group one, he immediately thought that him and I are going to team up automatically.
He hadn’t even hesitated for a single second, treating our dynamic as a package deal without needing to state it out loud.
It was absurd... but to be honest—I’m kind of happy that we’re close enough that he thinks like that.
A small smile appeared on my face, then opening my mouth—
I swallowed the piece of bread, giving a casual gesture with my free hand.
"If there’s a place for Cindy in the team, then why not?"
I said that with a shrug.
Zion looked at Crystal, waiting to see how she would react to adding another member to our proposed squad.
"You two are the first ones I went to recruit—so there are two more spots for the team, if this Cindy you’re both talking about is strong; then I don’t see a reason why not to take them as well."
And Crystal, she said that with a straight face.
*****
Crystal agreed to have Cindy join our group, especially after we told her Cindy’s scores in the evaluation.
She checked the numbers quickly, nodding in approval when she realized Cindy’s combat technique rankings were high enough to comfortably handle top-tier threats.
She was basically still stronger than me, If ever—among us four; I would be the weakest.
While my physical stats had jumped significantly thanks to the recent training, Cindy’s refined dagger techniques and agile combat style gave her an edge in pure combat efficiency over my sport-oriented fencing.
’I will just make up with that by supporting them during the test with my ice abilities, Vael is supposed to be a support character after all.’
I thought to myself.
I leaned back against the wall, reflecting on the underlying mechanics of my character’s magic build.
In the game, Zion, Crystal, and Vael are already fated to team up for the test at the end of the month; and during that time—Vael became a very useful character for crowd control and defense.
His ability to instantly construct ice barriers, freeze enemy movements, and shape the battlefield terrain was vital for keeping high-density monster waves from overwhelming the frontline attackers.
That’s why in the exam, I will just do what Vael did in the game as well—I can still play a major role even when I’m the weakest.
I didn’t need to be the primary damage dealer when I had the protagonist and top-tier combat prodigies standing right beside me to deliver the finishing blows.
Anyway, after we agreed to team up—Crystal left, telling us that she will be recruiting another member for our group.
"I have one more specific person in mind to fill the final slot."
She stated firmly, turning on her heel to head down the adjacent hallway.
"I’ll handle the recruitment. Just make sure you two and your friend are ready."
I already know who it is, but I’m not going to spoil it for Zion.
I watched her walk away with a quiet, knowing smirk, well aware of which high-ranking student she was planning to pull into our five-person unit.
After that, Zion and I headed back to the classroom, and there—we waited for the next class to start.
We walked through the double doors of Class 1-F, returning to our respective desks as the rest of our classmates slowly trickled back in from their breaks.
As we do so, Zion asked me a question.
He leaned across the aisle between our seats, resting his chin on his hands while looking over at me.
"What do you think the group test will be?"
I shrugged my shoulders, signaling that I have no idea. But opening my mouth—
"Maybe monster hunting? Who knows?"
I told him that, acting oblivious.
I kept my voice completely neutral, giving him a plausible guess without revealing that I already knew the exact structure of the upcoming exam.
Before Zion could ask for even more, the next professor arrived in the room.
The front door opened with a sharp click, and our theoretical lecture instructor walked in carrying a heavy stack of textbooks.
"Quiet down, everyone. Open your manuals to Chapter four."
The professor announced, turning around to write the topic title on the main board.
And just like that—the two of us sat for hours, listening to unending lectures... and after that subject... another unending lectures for several hours awaited us.
We spent the entire rest of the afternoon taking down dense notes on elemental theory, historical magic arrays, and campus regulations, watching the clock tick slowly toward the end of the school day.
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After the classes ended, I immediately contacted Cindy.
I pulled out my phone as soon as the final bell chimed, sending her a quick text to set up a meeting spot outside the main academic grounds.
We met up in a cafe near her dorm, and there—we told her about what we learned from Crystal and invited her as well to join our group.
The small, quiet shop was cozy, filled with the warm scent of roasted coffee beans and fresh pastries as the three of us sat around a circular wooden table in the corner.
Cindy listened quietly while sipping her tea, taking in all the details about Crystal’s proposal, the upcoming group exam at the end of the month, and the five-person squad setup.
She accepted the invitation without much thought, and after that, we just ate and talked about our day in the academy.
"Sounds fine to me."
She said, setting her cup down with a calm nod.
"Teaming up with you two makes the most sense anyway. It’s much better than trying to adjust to random classmates at the last minute."
"Great! That makes four of us."
Zion smiled, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied expression after finishing his pastry.
We spent the next hour relaxing at the table, sharing stories about our morning spars with Professor Ulfar and laughing over how completely terrifying his counterattacks were in person.
"Sis is asking about you, by the way."
Cindy mentioned casually, wiping her hands with a napkin as she looked over at me.
"She does? I answer her texts as soon as I can, tell her that I’m doing fine."
I told Cindy with a smile on my face.
"I will."
Cindy replied, giving a small, subtle nod as she checked the time on her phone.
"She just wants to make sure you aren’t overworking yourself during self-training."
"I’m managing just fine."
I chuckled softly, shaking my head at her sister’s endless worrying.
Anyway, Crystal told us to meet with her tomorrow, she will tell us the content of the test by then.