21 Chapter 21 - The Results are in!

Zefer returned to his homeroom class. Throughout each course, he was busy doing his own thing. He was researching the Guild, an organization made for Bounty Hunters, or Hunters for short, to go around and do quests or tasks that the government needed help with. Such quests or missions could be anywhere between hunting monsters that came with the forthcoming of the other races, exploring dangerous and mysterious ruins, or simply helping the folks of the city.

Every city had a Guild Hall, which people could apply and perform quests or tasks. Not only that, but it was also a place for people to form parties to undertake various other jobs. Presently, Zefer was finishing up his research on the Guild of Falter.

A portfolio was created for public viewing whenever someone applied to be a Hunter. What rank they were, what kind of quests and tasks they undertook, and their widespread publicity with the public. The Guild did this if a client wanted to hire a specific person. This way, Guild could provide them recommendations.

Zefer just used this information to find out who was the strongest in the City of Falter, and so far, there were three A Ranks and thre B Ranks. Hunter-wise, that was quite a bit since Zefer wasn't counting the principal or the academy staff, which were all between A and B ranks, with Gill being a high A rank.

"Alexander Richardson Jr." Zefer listed the first name of an A-Rank hunter, who had millions in a thumb's up area and like three-hundred in a thumb's down area. It showed he underwent over 100 A-Rank quests, resting at 192 A-Rank quests completed. He also finished 789 B Rank quests and 603 C Rank Quests, with D, E, and F roughly the same as B and C Rank quests.

Zefer looked over the other two A Ranks and then the three B Ranks, and it showed that none of them were even close to Alexander's statistics, showing he outclassed them; however, there was one thing next to Alexander's name that wasn't next to the others, and that was the word.

"Retired." Zefer thought to himself.

A Hunter was allowed to retire whenever they pleased. The Guild would not contact them for work unless an S-Rank Quest were issued. These quests were classified as emergency quests where the city was in danger. The Guild would most likely issue something once Zefer finalized his plan to destroy the City of Falter.

"This just leaves, Lucina Collins, A-Rank. Jullian Guff, A-Rank. Benard Bull, B Rank. Lewis Skewered, B Rank. And, Veronica Stars, B Rank." Zefer thought to himself as he went over the other names of the six strongest members of the Guild of Falter. It was likely that these five would give him the most trouble in the future. Of course, it wasn't just them, but the staff of the academy and principal Gill.

"Alright class. The end of the day is near and now it is time for your Rank Up results!" The teacher called out the same teacher who was on the list as a member of the Guild. Veronica Stars, his homeroom teacher. Although, most just called her Ms. Veronica.

Zefer didn't care for the results of the test. Chances were that he did not pass anyway, and if they did achieve an overall high score, he wasn't one of the members who put in much work. Aside from the mana weapon and armor, the rest was trivial. Zefer knew he could probably buy something like that later on down the line, or steal it from a shop, maybe even take it off a dead Hunter.

So, Zefer decided to do something else. Since he felt like he did enough research on the Guild and their members, not just the strongest, but all fifty as a whole, he figured the next thing was to get the city's layout. Alas, he couldn't just pull up the design in the middle of school, so he decided to wait until he got home.

For now, he was going to look into his system and see what partial things he unlocked; however, before he could, Ms. Veronica called his name. His attention shifted towards her with his name being called while everyone's eyes shifted onto him.

"Yes?" Zefer inquired since he had not been paying attention.

"You have been promoted from F Rank to E Rank. Since you scored highest out of all of the first-years, ranking top, you have been awarded the Mana Armor, Ring of Fortifcation!" Ms. Veronica did her best to sound pleasing and overall happy, but everyone was shocked and confused, contrary to her demeanor.

Even Zefer was confused since he recalled scoring average on every test. There was no way that one battle could signify his grades and gain him first. Something went on behind the scenes, and then it hit him. Principal Gill probably had something to do with this.

"That bastard..." Zefer grumbled internally since he quickly pieced it together. The man went over his grades, even the Rank Up test, showing that he scored average. The man knew he was smart, more intelligent than most. So, Gill probably messed with Zefer's scores which allowed him to take first place out of all the first years.

Zefer purposely went after average since he didn't want to draw any attention to himself back then. Even now, more than ever, he did not want the attention. If all eyes were on him, it would prove challenging to devise a plan to bring this city to ruin.

Even though Zefer sighed with annoyance on the inside, he was calm and composed on the outside. He stood from his desk and made his way to the front of the class. Zefer could hear many murmurs. Even Ruth was glaring at Zefer, saying it should have been him up there.

Zefer stopped and turned on his heel to face the class, only keeping silent as he watched the eyes of his peers. Some held fear, anger or hate, disgust, and others fancy. In the end, the only pair of eyes he recalled that held respect was Alex, and that boy was currently in the medical bay since he knocked him out.

"Now then, Zefer, before I present to you your reward, please tell us your thoughts on the first-year Rank Up tests and what advice you would have for your peers and under classmates coming into the first year courses." Ms. Veronica spoke almost robotically as if she was being forced to say this.

Truthfully, this was something that all first-place winners had to go through each year. It was a way to inspire their peers and those to come since the speech Zefer would give would be placed on the school's front page for all to see.

"The Rank up test was boring and easy. You can learn all the material you need in the books and classes if you pay attention. As for my advice, well... just study." Zefer had paused to think of something to stay but shrugged since he saw nothing more to say than what he did.

"Well.. alright then. One final thing, please give us a statement. Something that will inspire all." Ms. Veronica spoke once again, asking Zefer for a powerful statement now.

Zefer thought to say nothing because he didn't care, but Ina stopped him. She told him to repeat after her since her words would inflict a lingering feeling of fear onto them no matter who they were, and so Zefer repeated after Ina.

Zefer's eyes flashed open, and as he did, his Runic Eye gave off a powerful glow as he looked at his peers.

"Gods, or Goddess... Demons, or Devils, it matters not who stands before me. All obstacles will fall in my wake, and none will remain, for when I am done, everything will be bathed in pure destruction." Zefer's statement was short and cringe-worthy, but coming from someone who gave off an intense vibe, it felt like an oath.

Everyone in this class who heard his statement felt like all of the oxygen was sucked from their lungs since none could breathe. The longer they looked at Zefer, Zefer instilled more fear into their being. Even though Zefer was just a boy around their age, they saw something akin to a monster. Something they should not mess with.

Before the students of Class 1-A and Ms. Veronica, their homeroom teacher was a Mighty Rune Warrior hellbent on bringing everything around him to ruin, and there wasn't a damn thing anyone could do to stop it.

"Excellent!" Ina exclaimed inside of Zefer's mind. "Now do a little pose and show of power to finish it off," Ina added. Zefer was reluctant but decided to do it anyway. Mostly because he wanted to see the reaction he would gain.

Bringing out his non-dominate hand, he began to curl his fingers as if he were closing his palm. As he did, a flare of dark purple and neon blue energy erupted from his hand like that of a flame that he crushed, causing sparks to fly out, but not do anything harmful.

The reaction he caused pleased him since it looked like the vast majority of the class passed out, possibly due to overwhelming fear or shock. Leaving Ms. Veronica and Ruth the only ones awake, but that wasn't what interested him or pleased him; it was the thing in front of him.

[Charm Stat increased by 12!]

"Interesting..." Zefer said to himself as he grinned on the inside.