Axel was still in a temporary state of awe when Vesper walked over.
She seemed to have sensed that he was in a daze and proceeded to snap her fingers in front of him.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked afterwards.
Axel shook his head before slowly shifting his gaze toward her.
He thought about telling her about this strange system moment for a while but immediately decided. At least not until he knew what exactly it was.
"It's nothing." He shook his head.
"Let's go then."
"Hn."
The Academic block of Nelxus Academy was a huge four-storey building.
The Academy was a three-year program, but all the classes from each year were divided into classes A, B, C, and D.
The classroom for everyone in the D class was located on the first floor, which included the second and third years also.
The second floor belonged to the C class, the third floor to the B class and the fourth floor to the B class.
The school placed great emphasis on looking down on those weaker than them from above as they were beneath them.
The fairy side of the board initially didn't agree with this class system as it bred discrimination. However, seeing that it also gave rise to strong competition, they were persuaded to agree.
For the first years, their class was determined solely depending on their performance in the Academy's entrance examination.
Those who managed to make it to the A class at this stage were considered quite formidable, and there weren't many first years in the A class at the moment; this was the case for almost every batch of first years.
This was the reason why the students in the C class were especially confused when one of the few students who managed to make it to the A class walked into their classroom.
Axel and Vesper had all eyes fixated on them as she slowly led him to the two empty seats near the window.
She helped Axel sit down on the seat closest to the window before proceeding to sit down beside him.
The moment she sat down, the gossiping in the class immediately broke out.
"What is an A class doing here?"
"Is she really planning to stay here?"
"Doesn't she find this place embarrassing?"
"Seriously, you guys, can't you see the person beside him?"
"Is she staying here because of him?"
"I heard he's blind at the moment but nobody knows if it's permanent."
Vesper could obviously hear everything they were saying but she couldn't be bothered about saying anything to them.
She put her left hand on her chin and was just about to close her eyes when two fairies came rushing into the classroom.
They ran straight to the two seats at the back and were shocked to see that they were occupied.
"Umm…excuse me."
"Hn?" Vesper sounded a bit irritated as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Umm….those are our seats." The fairy stuttered.
"Not anymore." Vesper retorted sharply.
Those words carried with them an icy aura that immediately sent chills down their spine.
"But…"
"I said, we'll be sitting here from now on." She asserted, shooting them a sharp gaze.
The two suddenly felt a shudder before quickly scurrying away to find other seats to make do with.
"You still enjoy bullying others," Axel commented from the side.
"Bullying?" She scoffed. "This is called taking what I want because I can. Anyone who thinks they can take it from me can step forward."
She shifted her gaze to everyone looking back at that moment, and all of them quickly turned away, pretending that they were not looking at them to begin with.
"What a nice way to spin it."
Vesper could only roll her eyes at him before resting her head on the desk.
"This is indeed a nice spot."
To be honest, he had been aware from the start that this wasn't his usual sitting position, but since she had decided they were going to stay here, nothing he said was going to change her mind.
Besides, he did really like sitting here so he wasn't exactly thinking of moving the moment he sat down.
Shameless? Yeah, but he did like this sort of shamelessness.
"Alright, kids."
A female voice resounded from outside before the front door was quickly pushed open.
The person who walked into the room was a face the students were familiar with. A teacher who was a bit on the chubby side but she looked quite professional with her glasses and black suit.
"Good morning Miss. Esley." The class greeted in unison.
"Good morning." She said with a sweet voice as she smiled. "I hope you all are ready?"
"Yes."
There was a bit of a positive response, but overall, it looked like most of them weren't really looking forward to this.
Today, all the first-year students were going to be taking part in an outdoor assessment exercise that required them to participate in groups of three.
Most of the students had already formed their groups, while some of them, like Vesper, were yet to.
It didn't matter to the teacher either way, they were going to participate whether they liked it or not. Well, unless they were willing to give up points and drop to the D class.
"Just remember, when you're forming groups, you must at least have one person from the other classes in your group. Someone from the D class may not be a bad choice if you don't care much about points." The teacher chuckled.
She was about to leave when she caught sight of Vesper who had raised her head now.
"Um…Vesper, right?" She said,
Vesper didn't really react but there was a bit of pleasantness in her eyes. She liked it when people addressed her by her name instead of "Your Highness."
"Claire told me you would be staying here for a while." She remarked. "Well, just try not to bully your classmates too much and everything will be fine."
Those were her last words before leaving the classroom.
The other students were a bit disgruntled.
Try not to bully them too much.
Did she mean it was okay to bully them as long as it wasn't too much?
What exactly was the metric for too much?
_______ ______
All the first-year students seemed to have already gathered in front of a small forest beside, which was supposedly the location for their assessment.
Miss. Esley and another teacher, a male vampire, were standing by the side chatting about something.
While most of the students, especially those of the D class and C class, were going about looking for strong teammates to give themselves at least a chance to get a passable score, Vesper was standing further at the back with Axel.
"So, are we going to look for a third teammate or…."
"Don't worry about that for now."
She opened her left palm as the black ring on her index finger suddenly lit up.
In mere seconds what seemed like an intricately carved white cane appeared in her hand.
It looked like a normal cane at first glance, but on closer inspection, one could tell how carefully made it was.
She was giving this to him for two reasons: one was to make it easier for him to get around when she wasn't around, and the second was….
As if aware of what she was about to give to him, Axel smiled.
"Do you remember what you said the first time you tried to give this to me?"
At the thought of that very moment, Vesper's heart sank.