70 The “Substitute” Representative

What the first-year students didn't know was, that the last representative was considered as a "substitute student" and that this "substitute" could come from any year level.

In addition to this, most of the students who were chosen as the substitute representatives were the best third-year students in all four courses.

This was because the substitute students rarely ever got the chance to fight and they were mostly there to observe and gain experience from a representative's point of view so that next year, when their actual turn comes, they would be able to calmly lead the other representative students.

This means that the substitute representative was also next year's leading representative and that's how it usually goes every year.

Although there were some rare cases where truly gifted second-year students were chosen as the substitute representative, there weren't any cases of a first-year student becoming the substitute representative.

"Everyone, a round of applause for this year's representatives!" Dean Privett said as she smiled and gracefully clapped her hands for a few seconds.

Once the clapping noises died down, Dean Privett walked forward again with a graceful smile on her face.

"Now, as most of you know, the last representative is the substitute representative and although the substitute representative rarely has a chance to fight, he should be ready at all times. In addition to this, the substitute representative is tasked to lead the future representatives of Colzen Adventurer Academy."

"If your name is called, it means you are the pillar of the future representatives. Observe the battles closely and learn everything you can! Combat techniques, formations, teamwork, skill combinations, and many more.``

"The future of Colzen Adventurer Academy is in your hands! Although many may doubt your capabilities now, hold your head high because the academy entrusts its future to you!"

"From the warrior course, first-year student, Shye Crowley!"

Shye's eyes almost popped from their sockets due to how shocked he was after hearing that he was the substitute representative. 

He expected that he would be included in the list of first-year students who would accompany the representatives and watch from the crowd but he never would have dreamt that he would be watching them fight from the representatives' point of view.

Not only Shye, but everyone forgot to cheer as all of them were stupefied by the announcement.

This was the first time that a first-year student was chosen as the substitute representative in the entire history of Colzen Adventurer Academy so everyone was struggling to gather their wits.

The first ones who managed to snap back to reality were Shye's classmates who roared their throats out as they cheered wildly for their captain.

Their cheers started a chain reaction which made almost all the first-year students across all four courses cheer wildly for him.

On the other hand, the strongest second-year and third-year students gnashed their teeth and clenched their fists in defiance. 

They refused to believe that this first-year student got the last slot as if they, the top students of their generation, weren't even in the eyes of the deans.

As a result, only the first-year students and a small number of second-year, third-year, and fourth-year students cheered for Shye.

However, Shye couldn't even bring himself to care about how loud the cheers were. Until now, he couldn't believe that he, a first-year student, would be a representative as well.

Fortunately, the ever-reliable Instructor Fienna gave him one solid whack on the back of his head which snapped him back to reality.

Dean Snowcrest couldn't help but let out a chuckle after seeing Shye's reaction. Although the four deans agreed on sending Shye as the substitute representative, they were met with a lot of resistance from the conservative instructors.

In their opinion, sending the top third-year students would be the best course of action.

However, the deans knew that the next two generations of students after Ren Beckmann's generation were very mediocre and it was highly likely that their academy wouldn't be able to achieve anything during the next two adventurer academy competitions.

Fortunately, Shye's generation, considered the new golden generation by the deans, was the greatest lineup of geniuses that they had in the entire history of Colzen Adventurer Academy.

Even the generation who achieved the top 64 spot wasn't even close to how talented Shye's generation was.

This is why, although harsh, the deans decided to minimize their support for the next two generations and bet it all on Shye's generation for a chance to become the top academy in Valenzia Region.

Even if they fail to hold the position after Shye's generation graduates, a single year of being one of the top three academies in Valenzia Region will allow them to receive a massive budget from the World Adventurer Association which would forever let them escape the fate of being a mediocre academy.

Unless the next generation of deans and instructors were incredibly incompetent, it would be hard for them to not achieve at least the top 64.

Of course, the pre-requisite for this to happen is that Shye's generation must grab one of the top three spots in Valenzia.

It was easier said than done though, even their previous "golden generation" was only able to achieve the top 64. They could do nothing but hope that Shye's generation would let them escape the fate of mediocrity.

Finally, after another round of applause from the audience, Shye and the other five representatives returned to their seats as Dean Privett began announcing the names of the companions who would be able to go with the representatives to watch the matches from the crowd's point of view.

As expected, it was the top six students of each generation. For the first-year students, the six students who will accompany the representatives were:

First-year warrior course, Siegfried Lionheart

First-year mage course, David Houdini

First-year mage course, Harry Copperfield

First-year archer course, Kiin Wujin

First-year scout course, Ian Izanagi

Then, the last spot went to the genius freshman priestess who is currently being nurtured in the Colzen Monastery.

Shye and the other five students haven't even seen this teammate of theirs yet so they hoped that they would be able to see her this time.

"That's all for today's announcement. Although we are only able to send the cream of the crop to the competition venue, I hope that everyone would wholeheartedly support our representatives from behind your television screens."

"As for the representatives, please claim your Colzen Adventurer Academy core student uniform from your respective dean's offices and immediately prepare your belongings. We shall leave in two days. That's all from me, dismissed!"