The New Generation
Shortly after that, they left the stage and returned to their seats. The director began to open the envelope containing the name of the second-place winner.
"The second place goes to Paul Evans' group, totaling 121 points. As a reward, each member receives 125 coins." Once again, the audience applauded the winners.
Lucca heard movement behind him, turned around, and noticed that the group he had commented on earlier was the second-place winner. Seeing this, Lucca, Ivy, and Ana laughed at the situation, and Ivy even commented, "Better luck next time! Ahah!"
Upon hearing Ivy's comment, the defeated group grunted but continued toward the stage. One of them commented, "I doubt those clowns will stay in first place; I refuse to believe it!" expressing his frustration through gritted teeth.
However, Paul, who was clearly angrier, remained silent and continued towards the stage.
They went on stage, and the director asked, "Once again, share what your strategy was to get here?"
"Contrary to the other group, we decided to focus on defeating animals. We never hunted creatures; after all, we saw no advantage in doing so! Why kill one when we can kill several at once?" revealed Paul, with a satisfied smile directed at the other group.
"Congratulations! Here are the coins you've earned!" The director handed five envelopes to each group member containing the coins, and they left the stage to return to their seats.
"Now, let's announce what I believe to be the future stars of this generation! First place goes to Alice's group from the Andersons family! Give a round of applause for the camp winners!"
The group stood up and thanked the applause, while Ivy and Lucca were more interested in taunting Paul's group. They turned around, laughed in their faces, and thanked them. After that, they went toward the stage to receive their prizes.
Alice greeted the director with a kiss on the cheek and a hug. The director commented in her ear, "Your mother must be proud of you!"
"Thank you, Samuel!" Alice thanked with a smile.
The rest of the group greeted him with a handshake.
"You won the camp; we need to know how you did it, isn't that right?" he asked the audience, which responded with a "yes."
"Well, our strategy was straightforward. We hunted level 49 monsters to gain 4 points per kill and made the most of our time!" revealed Alice.
Then, they received their prizes and left the stage. Shortly afterward, the director announced that classes would proceed as expected, and he suggested they take the time to rest, as school exams would begin shortly.
Lucca decided to head toward the dormitory to store the envelope. As soon as he left the room, Paul's group was waiting for him. Lucca simply ignored them, but in the middle of the way, he received a kick to his supporting foot, causing him to fall. However, he stood still and looked at Paul, the one who had done it.
"Now that you don't have Alice to carry you, you're scared shitless, huh? You need her to achieve anything in life, right?" commented Paul, clearly irritated.
"Haha," Lucca laughed, hearing the reason why he was there to provoke him.
"You're laughing at Paul; don't you know who he is? You could get in trouble for disrespecting him!" commented one of the group members.
"Like a commoner, understanding anything about noble life! Ahah!" the four members of his group laughed, but only one person, Paul, didn't laugh. Seeing that he didn't laugh, they looked concerned!
"Ahah!" Lucca laughed again. "Commoner! Haha! Do you want me to answer, or do you answer?" he asked Paul.
"Phew!" Paul sighed. "They're kinda right, aren't they? Bastard of Blood Hair!" Paul taunted with a mocking smile towards Lucca.
"You're right; I'm half commoner and half noble! What does that make me?" Lucca released a small smile as he responded.
"An aberration that needs a girl to carry him! Haha!" one of Paul's group insulted and joked again.
Realizing that if he stayed there, they wouldn't stop talking, Lucca simply went towards the dormitory exit. But before that, Paul had one more thing to say: "I'm 100% sure you won't win the war for your dukedom, which means you'll die at the hands of one of your brothers. So, I don't have to worry about you in the future, but I'll make your life in the academy hell!" Paul threatened Lucca.
Upon hearing this, Lucca simply chuckled lightly and walked away.
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(While the discussion between Lucca and Paul was happening in the dormitory, a meeting was taking place in the director's office.)
The director was sitting at his desk, while the teachers who accompanied the students to the camp were in front of him.
"So, how were the overall results of this new generation?" he asked, curious about who the future promises of the realms would be.
"To be quite honest, the inequality this year is something I've never seen in my 100 years as a teacher!" revealed one of the oldest teachers.
"Explain in more detail!" the director asked to learn more about the new generation.
"We have 600 groups, right? Everyone scored more than 50 points, more than half exceeded 60 points, 15% surpassed 70 points, and 10% surpassed 90 points. The disparity in differences is five times greater than in previous years!" the teacher revealed with a smile, elaborating on the details.
A discussion started in the room about the new generation, until it got out of hand, and the director had to intervene: "OK, I understand. We'll talk more about this later! Now leave!"
The teachers left, and the director was alone. Soon after, a door in the wall opened, and a woman with black hair and glasses came out. Seeing her, the director asked: "Everything normal?"
"No, sir!" she replied, and he began to look at her. Seeing this, she continued: "One of the students didn't reveal his stats." She responded clearly afraid of what could happen after that.
"Who?"
"Lucca from the Mason family!"
"Isn't he the same one mentioned in the attempted assassination report?" the director asked.
"That's him!" she confirmed.
"Well, he's just a pawn. It's better to keep an eye on his movements than to question him!" he said.