The Student Council
Ever since Dragon Horn academy was established, there was a student faction recognized by the academy officials. In order to compete the hunter class students, the council was formed to encourage students and become strong in the spirit of rivalry, only the strongest were allowed to join regardless of the year. Right now, there were only eight members in the student council and since the wingless tournament was drawing in close, they were keeping a close eye on the first year students. The pillars were their main target and other high level affinity students. Gira Bren and Quillen were also approached by some unknown seniors, however I heard from Dan that they would only pick after evaluating our practical combat skills. It has been said that the student council members strength were on par with hunter class students and they have proven to be as capable and strong as any hunter class students, however they were worried of this year hunter class candidates, Werem the reincarnation of Kalaz, Jeral the only grandson of the famous grandmaster slayer, White Dragon and Nyaka, an unknown force, a genius whose talent in magic even surpassed that of Werem, the emissary of magic. This ridiculous trio was going to be quite a challenge to even older student council members, let alone the first year. No one knew of my deal with grandmaster Arilyne, nor I would tell anyone, it was unnecessary to attract attention. I just had to lay low and practice my skills and hone to its utmost limit, I'm not a master in swordplay or any form weapon art but I had a little faith with my archery and I was proud of it. I had already mastered all archery skills I inherited from my late father, yet since its a friendly tournament and not a real hunt, my archery would serve lethal, it could be dangerous. I was planning on improving my swordplay and other techniques, I was not good in the way of swords, I only learnt how to utilize the opponent blindspots to attack, using the environment to my advantage, studying the enemy and planning based on the enemy patterns, My father was a true fighter rather than a survivalist, he claimed himself that his way of fighting is cunning and not honorable but from what I observed, he was not even close. My father once used to be a knight and he never told me how he ended up in B-12 but his past influenced him, deep down in his heart, he still retained the knight code, honor. On the other hand, I didn't retain any of his virtuous knight qualities because it didn't serve me well in B-12. The demon of the black forest that I told you earlier about was a being that surpassed human intelligence, of this world, his knowledge was godly and he taught me how dangerous a human can be when bestowed with the secrets of this world. He could speak through mind without uttering any language, his gestures and symbols were far superior than any human language. The demon never told me about his origin but it referred to itself as Sloghk, I assumed it was his name, it could be something but I remembered him by this name. His powers were not borrowed like magic that needs a catalyst to cast spells, our body is a vessel for magic and it has limits to how much one can constantly cast spells without running out of magic. Fully draining of magic can lead to death that's why magic was used as a supporting weapon rather than a direct weapon itself in general. Sloghk powers were earthly, it could command animals, trees, elements and nature itself, he was like a manifestation of nature itself. What he showed me was that knowledge was the most lethal weapon in this world, it claimed that the natives of this world was ignorant of true knowledge and that the true power lies in this revelation, that nature always had its way of defending itself and everything that exist in nature will always be devoured by nature, nature knew the weakness of all creatures including varaes, after all we all came from nature, the flaws and abilities we creatures possess was endowed by the creation of nature itself and by the law of creation, it also know how to dismantle us, Sloghk lived in our world for thousands of years, he possessed otherworldly knowledge and the secrets of the forest.
He showed me that knowledge can fight strong varaes and how so? slayers relied solely on magic to fight varaes and discarded their humanistic potential, upper division varaes that possessed incredible strength and abilities was still a creation of nature even though it was a product of magic mutation, it transformed in the sphere of nature's laws so it also developed new weakness along with its strength, Sloghk taught me that in this world there are secrets that can kill any strong varaes easily even without any magic, such was the secret he knew, the Bollis herb, a common herb found in any forest, it was mostly consumed by small animals like hares but when it is burnt, the ashes can be used as a poison, the toxic substance in the burnt Bollis herb could cause serious damage in upper division varaes since they have high magic capacity, for some reason this particular herb reacts against the mutated cells of magical varaes and the reaction causes serious dehydration, although it would not kill instantly it could knock out stronger varaes. I have tested it one time when I luckily stumbled across an upper division varae known as Fekion, at that time I was not aware of varaes division and assumed all varaes were dangerous, I have encountered countless varaes in southern forest, few I have recognised them from the knowledge I have gathered after coming to the academy, a reptilian two limbed creature with bat like wings, it was a highly dangerous creature, I would have no chance if I fought it head on, It could release an echo like sound wave that rendered weaker varaes unconscious and its senses were insanely sharp, I was taught by Sloghk that if I ever came across one, I should never touch the ground. He meant that Fekion could sense vibrations on the ground so using my techniques of animals, I hid myself on a tree far away from it, the varae Fekion was devouring another varae. I must clarify this, my senses were as good as any animals, at this point I had already surpassed human limits. I could sense and see creatures beyond human vision, a slight disturbance in my sense field I could detect it. I acquired such abilities from Sloghk's trails. I wouldn't recommend it, his trails were the same as death. There was a time when I didn't return home for a month, one of the rituals was that I was left to die in an unknown part of the southern forest where stronger varaes avoided the region due to the presence of Ilkeion buds, a black flower that grows on trees like orchids, Sloghk informed me that stronger varaes instinctively avoids this particular flower due to its misleading aura, it was a mutated magic flowers, over the course of time, it released strange waves of disruptive magic that interferes with upper class varaes that has strong magical perceptions and sensation. Not only varaes, humans with high magic affinity would also be disrupted by this flower, such was the nature of this Black flower known as Ilkeion buds. It was not that the flower was lethal to upper class varaes but it was that they just avoided it since it was a nuisance. The trail was for me to survive a month in the forest guarded by Ilkeion buds without any weapons and hunt bare hands. It proved extremely difficult, four days in, I could not hunt anything since it was physically impossible to catch a hare bare handed, even with techniques, it was not fruitful. I was starved and my body was utterly weak, drained of any energy left in my body, my body was forced to enter a state of critical condition, in order to survive, my senses began to improve, it was so sharp that I could even hear insects crawling on the ground. I had no strength in my body but I could sense my surrounding much better than anything before, entering a state of death, I was almost invisible, I became one with the earth, a part of nature and thats when miracuously a rabbit hop passed my nearly dead body. For the next few days, I continued to rely on insects and dews from leaves to survive and I trained my beast steps and falcon breathing, my hunger was never satisfied, I was training in a deficient state for days, my body adapted but half of my flesh left my body, the predatorial aura that I acquired from that training was immense. I fought with wolves bare handed, my beast steps and falcon breathing helped me hunt bigger animals, over time the sound of my footsteps began to deafen to a point where any ordinary person would not be able to hear it and I could use falcon breathing for a longer peroid of time. I believe I could have improved Falcon breathing technqiue a lot better only if I was healthy at that time. I survived for a whole month, that's when Sloghk appeared in his grand appearance of smoke and ravens and took me out of the Ilkeion buds forest. That was one of his trails, and with my improved sense, I also found out that my archery skills could be elevated to a whole new level. With this new found enhancement, almost fifty meters away from my target, I shot my arrow coated with Bollis herb poison, to make sure I shot another three more arrows consecutively in fast succession, with my new found predatory senses I located it almost in a near death condition to a nearby stream after four hours of tracking it, even an upper division varae with high resistance was also unable to fully resist the strength of Bollis herb poison. Yet, none of this arsenal was going to be useful in the upcoming tournament, this was for hunting varaes and not for individual battles. However, I was confident in my physical abilities that I could even take on those hunter class students.
The student council had begun to move, this meant they'll select candidates to represent first year in the upcoming wingless tournament and only six students from each academy were allowed to represent the academy. I had to become one of them, that was my objective for now. However, so far they haven't approached me. That means I was not on their radar, I had to do something to get their attention but the selection was free for anyone, if any of us managed to impress them in the selection, we could be selected as an academy representative. However, three of the spots were reserved for hunter class students so that meant only three spots were vacant, but if anyone can defeat the hunter class students then they could take their spot however, no one would dare challenge a hunter class student.
" So who's that senior that scouted you just a moment ago?, " I asked.
" His name is Reijin, the sixth of the student council. " Dan Vonter answered.
" What is this 'sixth'? " I was eager to know.
" It's their ranking, the number represented their position and strength. Their leader, a 4th year senior, has been the leader of the student council for the last two years. His name is Escrald Lejes. The strongest in the student council members. " Dan explained, he seemed to know about this stuff a lot.
" How do you know all of this?" I asked curiously.
He moved closer to my ear and whispered, " I eavesdrop others, " and he smiled proudly.
" Oh oh oh- okay, " I replied, surprised by his answer.
" Have you been invited to the selection ?, " I said.
" Yes, anyone interested can try their chance at the selection, " He said. " They personally approach students they are interested in, "
" Is that so? When is the selection?, " I inquired.
" It's very soon, Reijin said it would be two weeks from now. " Dan answered.
" I need to get one of the spots somehow, " I murmured unconsciously.
" Shall I recommend you? It might work, since I'm a pillar they may listen to me? " Dan said excitedly.
" No thanks, that's playing dirty. " I said.
" Hahaha- just kidding, I bet they would be surprised once they see your skills. " Dan laughed and patted on my back. " Don't worry, Lan. You'll get selected for sure, "
" I hope so, " I smiled.
All of the members of the student council assembled in the council chamber, they were seated in a round table facing one another and about to discuss the reports of first year scouting. The first, Escrald Lejes, tall, handsome and the strongest of all. The second, Leyan Teidder, a 4th year student, had a short hair with a scar on her left cheek. The third, Reinner Delron, a second year student, one of the strongest fighter class students of the academy. The fourth, Ghir Valad, a third year known for his outstanding supporting class skills. The fifth, Oreon Pleinsg, another 4th year student, the shortest person among the student council but known for his legendary solo performance, he was a magic-fighter class and he was a Yen affinity. The sixth, Reijin Arataka, a master of sword, a descendent of the Wun Tai martial arts family. The seventh, Norli Logen, another third year student, stood out the most in the group with her red hair and a pale complexion that resembled like a ghost. The eight, a second year student, she was a big woman, strong muscles and a talented fighter class student, her name was Sen Hampdher.
" So who's your pick?, " Escrald Lejes commenced the session.