86 Chapter 76 - A New Goal

"..."

Sylvie was sulking angrily as Ellen was squeezing her fist tightly in anger. They had left the training grounds and decided to train on the outskirts of the school. They were on the edge of the floating island, where the area they were in was populated by trees.

Jelhad was growling with anger. He might be pompous, but he still didn't like the way his classmates were treated. Well...

"Stop looking at me! It's not like I care about any of you. I'm just mad at how they dare to look down on me! The great Jelhad!"

Not so quite, if you were to buy what he's saying. Liliane was practicing with her clairvoyance magic on a tree, trying to look into its history.

Everyone else who had an offensive ability was sparring, even though they were mostly annoyed rather than motivated at the moment.

Sylvie stopped her spar with Jewels mid-battle and stomped her foot in anger.

"Stop it! We're trying to act like everything's okay. I don't understand why any of you would bow your heads so easily to those nobles."

Kato pinched his nose bridge as he stood up from where he was sitting.

"Look Sylvie we're all frustrated but getting angry won't solve anything. The best we can do is get stronger and understand magic better."

"They're first years too! It's not like there's a huge gap in power."

"That's where you're wrong. Noble kids in the Gilded Kings learn how to use third level magic even before attending this school. And the strongest student I've heard rumors of is said to be able to use seventh tier magic... that's on par with a court mage. We, on the other hand, have Griff here who can use third tier magic at best right now."

Reality hit all of them who were angry like a truck. Everyone except Griff and Jewels was more frustrated now.

Jewels simply didn't care. He wouldn't waste time getting angry. He'd let his actions speak over words. Griff, on the other hand, felt determined rather than discouraged. This wasn't some mindless fantasy. He simply wanted to discover more of the world and the strengths it held, and training here was the perfect opportunity.

"Who cares. Come on guys. We better train or we'll all be stuck in the dumps."

He tried lifting up everyones mood.

"No, Kato's right. There are monsters in the other classes. I experienced it first hand."

Ellen retorted.

"...if you all keep looking up and then getting discouraged, I can say for certain you won't make it in the military..."

Jewels hopped into the gloomy conversation trying to cheer everyone up in his own way.

"...I got an idea. The Ranking Festival that's at the end of this year. We can make that a goal for ourselves. One of our teams here will reach the top 10!"

"Ranking Festival? The heck is that?"

"Well, we get to have ranking fights during the entire year, but our ranks aren't finalized. At the end of the year the ranking festival exists for underdog squads to suddenly jump through the squad and individual rankings. The higher your ranking, you even have the chance to be transferred to higher classes!"

Kato suddenly got excited as his eyes started to sparkle, imagining what he'd do with all that fame if he got to be first. Probably use it to become a strong noble.

Griff pondered for a second. It sounded like the best place he could fight strong people, but these were nobility he was talking about. He knew just how much of a scum they could be, so he wasn't that hopeful for any reward if he managed to reach the top as a commoner. But... it would feel nice to finally show the world what he got. No, show himself what he got!

'I wanted to get stronger, and this... THIS is THE opportunity that I need. A clear goal.'

Griff squeezed his right hand into a fist and looked at the glowing four lacrimas that were imbedded on the glove he was wearing. He nodded to himself as he brushed back his hair and looked at Kato with rigor.

"I don't know about any of you guys... but I'll compete in this, and I'll do my best! Winning this doesn't matter, what matters is how much of a distance I can cover at the end of this year."

Jelhad looked at him like he was an alien. Liliane, on the other hand, was rather surprised. Ellen and Sylvie had stopped glaring at each other, both looking confused at this determination Griff displayed in front of these odds.

Lance's brain had stopped and he had dropped the heavy tree branch he was using for weightlifting on his foot and shrieked out.

Griff looked at them all and sighed.

"You don't all have to think the same way I do, you'll all find your own path someday or another. This is mine. To get as strong as I can. Now if you excuse me guys, I got some experimenting to do with my magic!"

He waved them off as he ran into the woods grinning, leaving his shocked friends with Kato whose eyes were starting to gain a dangerous glint and Jewels who was yawning, sitting under a tree.