Academy days (Book 2 of IA)

[8] Letters

"Bro, take me to your training lessons again..." Rumble nudged me at the table.

"Whatever..." I replied, taking another chunk out my burger.

Amidst of the chaos of eating and chatter, Dr. Cherrylove came bursting into the room with a small stack of envelopes in her hands:

"I am sorry to interrupt all of you, during your dinner time. But hear me out! The matching making results of your partner for your final exam is out!" Dr. Cherrylove said, as she hands out an envelope to each and one of us, with our names written on the back.

"I am so sorry Biggy you can't come! But I am sure they are more chances in the future!" she patted the Pingu, who looked at her like a women talking nonsense; well to animals it would be nonsense.

"Alright, before we begin are you all familiar with the threat level rating system?"

I vaguely recall the threat level system before from Isa, but I was never really fully informed of it. Now that I think about it, I am actually quite curious.

"Dr. Cherrylove! Can you tell me about the threat level system again? I kind of forgot about it." I simply said.

"No worries, I will just quickly go over it then." Dr. Cherrylove cleared her throat then went on:

"As you all know, there are 6 threat levels in total. And Starting at the bottom is 'C' level threat, which stands for community. An average man wielding a gun would be in this class."

"D level threat, which stands for district. An example for this threat level will be an experienced Special Forces personnel equipped with a gun."

"And the U level threat, which stands for urban, can be compared to a highly experienced MS pilot."

The whole room turned to Isa and Kuro.

"And S level threat, which stands for state. These are typically the higher class elementals, and would often require the effort of an entire regiment of soldiers to take out." Dr. Cherrylove continued as we turned our attention back to her again.

"N level threat, which stands for national. Individuals at this stage will have the power to pose a threat to an entire nation, and is a walking army by themselves."

"Last at the top, we have I level threat, which stands for international. Beings at this level have the sheer power to single handily apprehend a nation and is impossible to destroy. Currently there are only 1 in the world, and that is the queen of elementals herself."

That's just too far beyond my league.

Oh, whatever...

"Alrighties! Let's move on!" Dr. Cherrylove said cheerfully. "Now open up your letters and tell me the name of the person on it."

Isa was the first to rip open her envelope, and then read from it:

"Marcus Z. Hogglewatch."

We all looked to Isa, then to Dr. Cherrylove, who took out a tablet out of nowhere and began typing words on it.

"Marcus Z. Hogglewatch. 3rd year lower institute student, school rank 5078. Threat level: D. Specializes in beast morphing magic."

"Wouldn't this be considered cheating?" I blurted out.

"Not at all! All student ranking at performance is on public display. And with current tension and mood, it is unlikely you will be able to approach your partners right now, so it would only be fair to give all of you guys a heads up!" Dr. Cherrylove waved with ease. "Next?"

Kuro spoke up:

"Dankos J. Jero."

"Let's see...Ah ha! Dankos J. Jero. 1st year higher institute student, school rank 4396. Threat level: D. Specializes in Illusion..."

Dr. Cherrylove sighed.

"Is there something wrong with the induvial?" I blurred out again.

"No, it's just lower ranking students statistically have a higher rate of failing the exam. And in more dire situations, they can quite easily become dead weight."

It was so rare, or almost unheard of to see Dr. Cherrylove in a negative mood, though that just goes to show how important the exam really is; Rumble was the next to open his letter:

"Lebitinne V. Laschtetanya...3rd year higher institute student, school rank 101. Threat level: U...Specializes in water magic..."

Isa and I sensed the familiarity of the name at once, but I beat her to the question:

"The name sounds familiar, is there a photo?"

Without hesitation, Dr. Cherrylove turned over the tablet to me. Beside her info stats and description, was an unmistakable photo of a blue hair girl:

"Lebi!" I jumped up from my seat.

"Is there something wrong?" Dr. Cherrylove asked as everyone turned and looked my way.

"Just way too coincidental that's all..." I piped down to my seat again.

"Alright, now it's you Kard!" Dr. Cherrylove said, as everyone looked to me. Ok, first of all, I am not really the kind of guy to win lotteries, as I said before, if I could convert, half of my bad luck into good luck, people instead of calling it 'jackpot' will start calling it 'kardpot' now. (Yep I will probably get muscular disease from the cringe if I ever said that out loud...)

With a sigh and deep breath, I ripped open the letter and read the name:

"Veritas S. Aeolus..."

I froze.

Everyone froze.

Time froze.

Silence.

Q: What would your response be if you won jackpot at a lottery?