Ten days had now passed since the entrance ceremony, indicating the arrival of the returning students to the Academy.
No ceremony was being held but the excitement in the city was very much apparent as Aron was making his way to the academy.
The academy had no strict dress code, rather ranks were differentiated by the cloak one wore. First years or rank ones had a brown cloak with a white outline, second years or rank twos had a green cloak with a thin white outline, third years or rank threes had a blue cloak with a thin white outline, fourth years had a red cloak with a thin outline while those with titles differed, a guardian had a white cloak with a golden outline whilst a harbinger had a black cloak with a golden outline. Those above rank four dressed as they please and normally wore cloaks carrying the crest of their families or faction.
At the moment, Aron wore his usual attire of dark silver boots, plain black trousers held up by leather belt to which his weapons and bullets were kept. On top he wore an equally plain black shirt with his Harbinger's cloak above it.
He did receive quite the number of stares as he made his way into the academy but he paid no mind to it. Standing not too far from within the academy was Jin who was leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed.
When he saw Aron approaching, he showed a small and moved from the pillar. Once Aron came close enough, Jin joined him and began walking beside him. "How many?" Aron inquired without turning his gaze.
"A lot were interested but very few fit the criteria, so we've narrowed it down to thirty six." Jin put his pinky to his ear and moved it vigorously while yawning as he answered Aron. "That's more than anticipated, not a bad number," Aron replied seemingly satisfied with the results.
"True, but wouldn't it have been better to wait for the returning students to arrive before recruiting?" Jin asked but Aron immediately shook his head at the idea. "Do you really think a proud noble would agree to join a faction of a commoner, one younger than him or her no less." When Aron revealed this, Jin lightly slapped his palm onto his forehead as it was quite obvious when one thought about it.
Jin and Jagu's task was simply to find individuals interested in joining Aron's faction. The few they did find would then be interviewed before the returning students arrive since they, too, would obviously seek to poach talented individuals.
Today being the arrival of the returning students, classes had been cancelled but the school and some of its facilities were open for use to students, hence why the academy had many people present.
As Aron and Jin made a turn into another hall, they found a queue of students lined up near the wall with the one furthest at the front standing in front of the door leading to one of the lecture rooms.
When these students saw Aron, they couldn't help but gaze at him. Some grew more eager whilst others felt even more nervous. After all, this interview would determine whether or not they would be allowed into his faction.
At the front of the door, Jagu stood guard and kept the line in order. He and Aron gave each other a nod before he made his way into the lecture room and sat at the front table.
It was from there that Jagu began calling in the students to be interviewed one by one. The interviews didn't last long as the questions Aron asked were a few.
Most students of course came across as average in Aron's opinion but they were a few that could be considered valuable.
The first of these valuable students was student number nine, Xavier Von Elecid, a noble. He ranked sixteenth on the overall ranks and came from a well established high class family. He had medium length brown hair that compliment his dark green eyes well, on top of that his caramel toned skin gave him quite the exotic look.
Upon entering the room, he looked at Aron curiously as if studying him. Aron didn't mind this and proceeded to ask his questions. "I didn't think a noble would be interested in joining a commoner's faction, what's your reason for wanting to join?" Aron's question was simple enough and Xavier showed a grin before he leaned back and prepared a response.
"Simple, you're strong. Not just you but those around you, anyone who doesn't see that is either blinded by pride or is an idiot. My gut tells me you'll achieve great things, I want a part of that." Xavier's eyes carried determination and his bright smile showed his sincerity, one would think his decision was rash but he seemed to be the reckless who didn't care for such.
"I see, are you aware not all factions abide by the rules? Mine is such a faction. Morals have no place here." The message in Aron's statement was clear but Xavier didn't seem deterred in the slightest. "The path to greatness is a bloody one, I'm fully prepared for what's ahead," Xavier replied without giving it much thought and shrugged.
"Alright, then lastly, what to do you bring to the table. In your words, what makes you stand out from the rest?" Xavier strokes his chin after hearing Aron's questions before patting his chest confidently. "I'm a very talented spear and bow user, my marksman ship is almost second to none. Along with that, I'm quite flexible to situations, an all in one you could say, heh." Once more Xavier's answer revealed his confidence and Aron gave him a nod before asking him to leave.
Xavier left the room with his hands behind his head while whistling, fully expressing his carefreeness.
The next valuable student was much to Aron's surprise a noble as well. Claudia Yesbern, a young woman also from a high class family.
Much like Xavier, she came into the room and almost immediately began scanning Aron and judging him in her mind whilst Aron did the same.
Like most high class noble women, Claudia was beautiful, extremely so. Long golden like hair that went up to her thighs, piercing emerald green eyes and a milky complexion. Her greatest feature perhaps was her buxom figure, unlike most noble women who had slender figures, hers was tone and very much curvy.
She sat elegantly and purposely made sure the slit on her dress that extended up to her properly showcased her leg. However, Aron paid no mind to it and proceeded to ask her the same questions he had asked Xavier.
"My reason for wanting to join is prestige, you have done something that's never been done before and even surpassed the heir house Lamarck, by my calculations joining your faction will breed the greatest results for me. I'm the seventh daughter in my family after all, if I do not make a name for myself only a political marriage awaits." Her tone and manner of speech were as elegant as her outlook, from her answer one could easily deduce she was quite strong willed and confident as well.
"As for rules and morals, let us be honest, Sir Aron, no great people make it to very peak without breaking rules and abandoning their morals. In this life, I only care for myself because no one else will." A bit of anger could be seen in her tone as she responded to this but Aron didn't pay it much mind and carried on to the last question.
"I'm not a combatant, my strong point is my mind. My genius is among the very top of my generation, I'm talented with runes and glyphs, I speak and write multiple languages and can engineer magical devices from scratch, and I've even built an airship when I was younger. My talents would be wasted being some trophy wife!" She expressed once more with clear anger in her tone but, once more, Aron didn't mind and he gave her a nod.
As she was leaving she sensually swayed her hips slowly from left to right as showing off even without her mind she was quite the asset. Jin, who stood beside Aron, couldn't help but sigh. "How sad, a smart woman is the most dangerous. I prefer mine as dense as stones like damsels in distress."
"Quite the preference you have.." Aron mocked Jin before asking him to send in the next student.
