Seeking a Mentor

<Noah POV>

"The results will be announced tomorrow. In the meantime, feel free to explore the school grounds and sleep in the school dorms. But do not worry if you aren't placed in the Class you wanted to be."

"Show us outstanding achievements and you will be given the opportunity to move up a Class. However, the same also applies when you slack off. If your performance is undeserving, you may find yourself in a lower Class or even expelled."

"That being said, please take advantage of what this academy has to offer. Give it your all and strive for excellence! You can leave now." Professor Erosius concluded his speech with a smile.

One by one, students started leaving the hall. This is the perfect time to socialize with each other so they didn't hesitate to start conversing amongst themselves and form friendships.

Though most of these won't last long after the hierarchy has been established.

Walking out of the hall, I was about to venture through the school grounds when someone stopped me. A boy, wearing a black uniform with red trimming and a golden emblem on the chest.

His uniform stood out from the rest as those were only handed to the student council.

Consisting of 12 members that excel in their field, they act as the right hand of the academy. Enforcing rules, providing aid to the students, managing the budget and much more.

"Noah Hazecrest right? Although I already know your answer, it is still mandatory for me to ask you. Which of the 4 Houses will you align with?" He asked.

Of course. I almost forgot about this part.

From the outside, the academy appears to be a neutral place for anyone to learn regardless of their standing as long as they are talented. But this is far from the truth.

Over the course of decades, the 4 dukedoms Hazecrest, Emberwing, Skystride and Glorydrifter have slowly gained influence in the academy.

By bribing teachers, buying the students' favor and deploying their own agents within the faculty, they've managed to gain a bit of control over the academy.

The royal family didn't try to intervene as the academy flourished with abundant resources, talents, and knowledge.

It was a prosperous time for the kingdom itself as well. Only the unaffiliated students had to suffer but that was a price they were willing to pay.

Although this blatant favoritism towards the dukedoms and their allies is not official, basically everyone knows how things work.

It went so far that even the student council directly asks new students which house they will plead allegiance to.

Based on your choice, certain professors will certainly treat you better whilst others will deliberately teach you false things or barely provide useful help.

In some extreme cases, some teachers simply refused to teach anyone besides their own faction but that was shut down shortly afterwards by the academy.

But the problem still remains. For example, if you wish to pursue swordsmanship, Glorydrifter will be your best bet as they rooted themself deep in the sword department and support most of the professors responsible for teaching it.

Or perhaps you want to study magic, then go ahead and choose Skystride. They're known for having excellent mages among their ranks and may even recruit you after finishing the academy.

The reason why this young man in front of me thinks it is pointless to ask me is because the heirs of the houses will obviously choose their own faction.

That's just common sense. Atleast it was until now.

"None." I replied.

"Yeah, I already thought so. Of course, you would join Hazecr... wait what did you say?" The boy looked at me with wide eyes.

"You heard me the first time. None." I answered plainly.

"You can't be serious right? You are the heir of the Hazecrest dukedom. Why wouldn't you side with the house where you belong?!" Confusion was written all over his face.

"It's something personal" I told him.

He stared at me blankly. It took him a while to regain his composure before checking off something from his list.

"Hah... I don't get paid enough for this." With a sigh, he turned around and walked away without another word.

Although it's true that joining a faction will come with various benefits, not all professors are corrupt and were swayed by money. There are always exceptions and I'm very interested in one of them.

Professor Mistscribe is his name. Raised in a place with little to no mana, he was forced to adapt and started to develop his own style.

Training his body day and night, he strengthened his muscles, tendons and bones to become stronger than any normal person could ever dream of.

With the appearance of the mana rifts, the shackles limiting humans were broken and he was able to strengthen himself beyond what nature initially intended.

His rank is abysmal low for a professor with only D-Rank but his superior body makes more than up for it. Matching the strength of someone from A-Rank wouldn't be out of the question.

Though even with that astonishing strength, his way of training wasn't appreciated at this academy and even the students mocked him.

In the end, he was degraded to teaching in a run down dojo somewhere on the academy grounds. Even the dukedoms wouldn't support him.

If I can balance between strengthening my body through his teachings whilst continuing to absorb mana, I think I can match the growth of the real prodigies.

Originally, Kayn was supposed to train under him but he failed to comprehend the later stages of his style. Maybe it will be different for me.

I should know a bit about it since it was a common method of accumulating strength in my previous world.

Although we also had mana, it was next to nothing so we couldn't utilize it.

Walking around the academy grounds, I tried to locate Professor Mistscribe's dojo.

After asking several people for directions, I finally managed to find it. It was somewhere near the north wing of the school building and was surrounded by a fence.

There was a damaged signboard hanging above the entrance. It seems someone vandalized it some time ago and never bothered fixing it.

What exactly did Professor Mistscribe do to garner such hatred?

I opened the door to the gym and stepped inside. It was dark and damp. Most of the floorboards were missing, leaving behind a muddy mess. Wooden walls lined both sides of the room with many holes here and there.

A single light bulb hung from the ceiling, illuminating the whole area. But it was too dim for me to see anything clearly. This place is even worse than I imagined.

Stepping on the creaking wooden boards, I made my way deeper into the darkness. The smell of moldy wood assaulted my nose.

An academy this famous should have atleast made the effort to renovate this old shed. They are drowning in wealth god dammit!

As I continued walking, I noticed the sound of water dripping somewhere nearby. With no other lead to follow, I headed toward it. As soon as I got close, the faint sounds grew louder and clearer.

Walking around a corner revealed a vague silhouette of a bulky man. Water irregularly dropped on his head like raindrops. He stood there motionless, enduring the torrential rainfall.

Whenever drops landed on him, his body slightly flinched. With its unpredictability, it most likely constantly breaks his concentration and conditions him to ignore the sudden stimulus.

This strange display intrigued me. Not wanting to interrupt him and give a bad impression, I silently watched him from afar. The quietness of this place gave me a feeling of calm and tranquility.

Minutes quickly turned into hours and I was about to lose my patience. He should have already noticed my presence by now. Should I just talk to him?

Before I could make up my mind, the raindrops suddenly stopped falling. Following suit, the man swiftly stood up and moved closer to the light. His eyes met mine and we locked gazes.

Together with the countless scars riddled over his entire body, he looked like a battle-honed warrior who has seen too much blood and gore.

Yet his gaze was everything but that and instead seemed filled with curiosity and excitement.

"What brings you here?" He asked with a voice so deep and masculine, it felt almost unnatural.

"I'm here because I want to train under Professor Mistscribe. I know that he does not hold lessons in the academy which is why I came here."

"Then you are at the right place kid. I'm the one you are looking for. What's your name?" He said with a small smile on his face.

"Noah. Noah Hazecrest."

Hearing my name, the man frowned deeply. His attitude had a 180-degree shift and he no longer sounded friendly and inviting. Instead, he became serious and cold.

"You are the son of Adelio Hazecrest?" He questioned, trying to make sure of my identity.

"Yes. Please accept my request, Professor Mistscribe. I wish to learn your ways of training," I answered.

What is this sudden change in mood? Did I do something wrong? I'm pretty sure Kayn said the same words and it didn't cause any problems. Why am I getting such an odd reaction?

"Leave. Leave and never come in my sight again!" He commanded, pointing at the exit. The aura coming off him was very threatening. He isn't playing around.