My System Doesn't Give Power
Chapter 71: Why Is He Here?
"Yes. I’m just an E-rank potential." The moment Zac said those words, the classroom erupted into chatter.
"Is he serious?"
"No way."
"An E-rank trash actually got into this academy?"
Not a single student believed him. To them, it sounded less like the truth and more like the world’s worst joke.
Even Sabrina frowned slightly, unsure whether Zac was joking or had simply lost his mind.
One of the students scoffed. "If you don’t want to reveal your potential, then don’t. Why humiliate yourself like that?"
Another one asked, "Do you have some kind of humiliation fetish? And even if you do, why announce it to the whole class?"
Adrian folded his arms and looked at Zac with pity. "I knew you were just a poser. If you wish to stand at the center of everyone’s attention, you should’ve been born as handsome as I am. Better yet, you should possess even a fraction of my radiance. Why tell such an impossible lie?"
Sabrina thought. "So, he’s just trying to make everyone look at him."
Zac looked at Adrian with a tired expression. "Do you think everyone is as narcissistic as you?"
Adrian placed a hand on his chest and smiled proudly. "This isn’t narcissism; I just have too much self-awareness."
Zac let out a slow sigh. There was no point arguing with someone who genuinely believed that. Instead, he turned toward Matilda. "Why don’t you tell them?"
Caught off guard, Matilda hesitated for a moment before looking around the classroom.
Her eyes swept across every student, from Sabrina, the top-ranked student, all the way to the last-ranked student whose name most of the class hadn’t even bothered to remember.
Everyone waited for her answer.
She gave an awkward smile. "I understand why all of you are reacting this way. Honestly, it should be impossible for someone with E-rank potential to get anywhere near this academy."
The student who had questioned Zac before immediately nodded. "I knew it! He’s obviously lying just to get attention."
"So... is it attention-seeking, bitch? No... it should be attention-seeking hoe. Aha... Why do humans make even cursing so complicated?" Sabrina wondered innocently.
[Pfft...pfft...bwahaha!]
"What happened?"
[Nothing; I just heard something funny.]
"But..." Matilda calmly continued before he could celebrate. "It is true that Zac awakened an E-rank potential during the Awakening Ceremony."
"...What?" A collective gasp spread through the classroom.
The room that had been filled with whispers only moments ago fell into stunned silence. "Miss Matilda..." another student asked cautiously. "You’re not joking... right?"
Matilda slowly shook her head. "No."
"If that’s true..." one of the students slowly said, still staring at Zac in disbelief. "Then how is he even here?"
He pushed himself to his feet.
"We’re all from influential families. We have strong backgrounds and outstanding potential. How can this academy allow someone with E-rank potential to study alongside us?"
He was about six feet tall with an average build, but the confidence in his voice made him stand out more than his appearance.
"Tell us your name before you speak, student," Matilda said.
"So she didn’t even look at my name, huh? It’s not like I’m the twenty-fifth student. I’m sixth on the list. It wouldn’t hurt her to look at it a little...This is really embarrassing."
"My name is Gary Evans. I’m from the Frontier Groups country, and I have S-rank potential as a brawler."
"Miss Matilda," he continued, "you said we’ll be going on missions. That means there’ll be group missions and team activities too, right?"
Matilda nodded in confirmation.
He then pointed straight at Zac. "If an E-rank like him joined one of those teams, wouldn’t that be the biggest disadvantage imaginable? Am I wrong?"
The classroom fell quiet. None of the other students rushed to agree with him, but none of them argued either.
Every one of the twenty-five students sitting in that classroom was an elite among their generation. Most had been trained since childhood. They all understood one simple fact.
If someone with E-rank potential had been accepted into New Dawn Academy, then there had to be a reason.
Maybe he possesses an incredibly rare talent, or he has someone unimaginably powerful backing him. That was why most of them stayed silent, choosing to watch instead of jumping to conclusions.
Still...
"You may sit down," Matilda said calmly. "It doesn’t matter what you, or any of you, think. If Zac was recruited into this academy, then there must be a reason."
"Whatever that reason is," Gary argued further, refusing to sit, "having someone with E-rank potential train beside us is an insult."
"He’ll make the entire class look bad, and even if there’s a perfectly valid reason for his admission, shouldn’t we know it? We’re going to spend the next four years together."
"No one wants to carry dead weight on their team. Besides, we all know mutual trust is the most important thing if a team wants to perform at its best. If we can’t trust him, how are we supposed to leave our backs to him?"
Matilda thought for a moment. "In a way... you’re right." She nodded slightly. "You’ll all be working together during missions. If you can’t trust one another, it’ll become a pain for everyone."
"Exactly!" Gary said immediately. "That’s what I’ve been trying to say."
"But there’s one problem."
"Really, Miss? With your wisdom and strength, I doubt there’s any problem you can’t solve."
"What a brown-noser," Marty muttered under his breath. Shobin also gave a small nod.
Matilda smiled apologetically. "The problem is... I actually don’t know why he was recruited."
The entire class blinked. "Didn’t you read anything about us? For God’s sake, you are our class in charge."
"Only the person who recruited Zac and the principal know the reason." She paused for a moment. "As for meeting the principal..."
She gently shook her head. "I don’t think that’s happening, and the recruiter..."
Before she could finish, Gary excitedly interrupted her. "No problem, Miss! I’ll go ask the recruiter myself. I’m sure they wouldn’t want the new students having conflicts before classes even begin."
"And if they refuse to explain..." He folded his arms confidently. "I’ll write a formal petition, have every student in this class sign it, and submit it to the Disciplinary Commission."
"They’ll have no choice but to expel him." He finished speaking as though he had just come up with a flawless master plan.
"And do you think your classmates would agree to sign it?"
"Of course they would. Why wouldn’t they? No one wants to be in the same room as trash like him." With a smug grin, he turned toward Zac, expecting to see fear or at least concern on his face.
Instead...
Zac wasn’t even listening to him. He absentmindedly stared out the classroom window, watching two little birds flutter from branch to branch, chirping as they chased each other through the morning air.
With his pinky lazily stuck in his ear, Zac let out a quiet yawn.
Seeing that, Gary’s face instantly turned red with anger.
"Hey!" He pointed at Zac. "Are you even listening to what I’m saying?"
Zac slowly looked over, pulled his finger out of his ear, and blinked. "Huh?" He rubbed one eye. "Sorry. You were talking for so long that I got sleepy."
"Did you say something?" Zac asked with another yawn.
Gary’s face reddened even further. He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
Seeing the exchange, several students couldn’t help but laugh. Marty and Shobin covered their mouths to hide theirs. Even Daniel let out a small chuckle.
Watching Zac completely ignore Gary somehow made the whole argument even funnier.
"Arrogant prick," Sabrina thought with a frown. "I seriously can’t stand him."
Gary took a deep breath to calm himself before turning back toward Matilda. "So, Miss... should I go meet the recruiter now or after class?"
Matilda walked back to her desk and sat down as though nothing unusual had happened. "You may go whenever you want."
She folded her hands on the desk and looked at Gary. "But before you do, I suggest you think about it. At least a thousand times."
Her voice remained calm. "And if you still decide to go through with it, you’d better say goodbye to your friends first. Because there’s a very good chance you won’t be coming back."
Gary frowned in confusion. "I don’t understand, Miss."
Matilda looked at him with the same gentle smile she had worn since class began. "The person who recruited Zac Delencore..."
She paused for just a moment. "...is none other than our vice principal...Armani Wild."
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...
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The room went into complete silence.
The chatter disappeared as if someone had pressed a mute button, and Gary’s confident expression was nowhere to be seen. The excitement on his face vanished in an instant.
Even Adrian slowly lowered his hand from his chest.
"The Infamous Wild?" someone muttered under their breath. A few students unconsciously swallowed, and others exchanged uneasy glances.
No one looked nearly as eager as they had just a few seconds ago.
Sabrina’s eyes widened slightly. "So that’s why..." She finally understood why Zac had seemed so familiar with Armani yesterday.
Gary forced an awkward laugh. "Y-You don’t actually mean the vice principal... right?"
"Didn’t you hear what I said?" Matilda replied. "It’s exactly that Armani Wild. The one known as the Infamous Wild."
Gary’s throat went dry, and cold sweat trickled down his back.
Just moments ago, he had been proud of his idea to file a petition against Zac and the person who recruited him to the academy. Now, all he could think about was how unbelievably stupid that idea had been.
On one hand, he was relieved he hadn’t actually written the complaint. On the other, he couldn’t believe he had even considered filing one against Armani.
Everyone in the Variant world knew who Armani Wild was and just how terrifyingly unpredictable she could be. Once she made a decision, anyone foolish enough to question it usually met a miserable end.
Even if she made a mistake, almost no one had the courage to point it out. That’s how feared she was.
Every student in the academy who came from a Variant family had heard the same warning before leaving home.
Never upset Miss Armani. Under any circumstances.
Gary had received that exact lecture from his father, the head of the Evans family. The man had spent nearly half an hour warning him never to cross paths with Armani.
And on his very first day at the academy... He had almost filed a complaint against her. A small, helpless laugh escaped Gary’s mouth as he realized just how idiotic he had been.