Silas looked up from the ground, glancing at both Edric and Logan.
"Before I decide, I need to know more about the school," Logan said, glancing at Edric.
"Of course," Edric responded, smiling slightly. "I'll start where I left off last time."
"The school is highly competitive. Your personal strength decides everything," Edric started. "Your strength determines where you sleep, what you eat, and even whether you qualify for one-on-one training."
Silas cut in, giving Edric a strange look.
"Hold on a second," Silas said, narrowing his eyes at Edric.
"You can't be seriously thinking about sending Logan there," he said, looking over at Logan before continuing. "No offense, Logan, but they'll eat you and your F-rank affinity alive there."
Edric didn't respond right away. Instead, he simply pulled up a holographic panel on his wristband and began tapping in commands.
"About that," Edric said, a small smirk forming. "You haven't seen the latest update, have you?"
Silas raised an eyebrow, then leaned closer as Edric turned the projection toward him.
Glancing at the projection, Silas's expression went from confusion to anger.
"Edric, you of all people should know faking documents is a no-go at the academy," Silas snapped, voice rising. ''Don't go around creating false hopes for him.''
The document Edric held in front of him showed an S-rank fire affinity for Logan's primary affinity.
'Edric never told Silas I have an SSS-rank affinity,' Logan thought, satisfied. 'It really shows his loyalty, although I do have to clear up the misunderstanding now.'
Logan stepped in before Edric could open his mouth.
"It is a lie, yes," Logan said, nodding while a small smirk formed on his face. "But nothing good would come from telling the truth.''
''As a matter of fact, the government will be the ones we'll have to deal with then."
"What do you mean?" Silas asked, confused.
Edric wanted to interrupt, but Logan raised his hand.
"I had a late awakening," he said plainly. "My affinity didn't show up in the standard tests."
He raised his hand, summoning a bright, flaming sphere into his palm.
"Turns out," Logan continued, his tone casual, "it's SSS-rank."
Silas stared at the flame in Logan's hand, evaluating it compared to countless S-rank flames he'd seen before.
For a moment, he didn't say anything.
He blinked. Slowly.
"...You're not joking, are you?"
"Nope," Logan replied.
A short moment of silence followed, with Silas turning to Edric once more for confirmation.
"It's true," Edric nodded, smirking.
Silas leaned back, taking the information in.
"No wonder Edric's been so damn confident lately," he thought, glancing at Logan.
"Alright then," Silas said, nodding. "If it's real, you should definitely go to the academy."
"There'll be countless large competitions," Silas continued. "Winning these competitions doesn't just mean unique items and rewards; it'll also improve your reputation."
"It's also the perfect place to make some connections for the future," Edric added, smiling.
"That does sound good," Logan admitted, seeing the benefits it could bring.
'What he said is definitely true,' he thought. 'Since heirs and talented people gather there, it's the perfect place to make connections and recruit some talented people.'
"None of the benefits compare to the SSS-rank fire teacher you could learn from, though," Silas said, nodding.
"But what about assassination attempts?" Logan questioned.
"The school pretty much guarantees your safety," Edric answered immediately. "With the five SSS-ranks behind the school, almost no one would dare try assassinating you, at least not on school grounds."
"Also, all conflicts between students are restricted to duel grounds," Silas mentioned, knowing why Logan was still kind of reluctant.
"Naturally, there's some groups between different ranks and rich family heirs, but you won't be able to avoid that no matter where you go."
Logan nodded. 'That's just reality,' he thought.
"Mmm," Logan responded, nodding while lost in his own thoughts.
Meanwhile, Silas and Edric looked at each other, giving a slight nod.
"Think about it," Edric said, standing up.
"Let us know if you decide to go," Silas said, following Edric. "The new school year starts in about two months."
With that, both of them left the room, leaving Logan alone with his thoughts.
'No matter how I look at it,' Logan thought, 'there's no reason to stay here. Not with all those benefits on the line.'
'Though, a problem I have is my combat experience,' he thought. 'Others have been training for this for two years already. If I want to pass the entrance exam, I'll have to put in everything I've got in my training.'
'Also, how am I supposed to manage the company from the university?' he questioned. 'The system is undoubtedly my priority, no matter how amazing the benefits from the university are.'
'I doubt the school could give someone an SSS-rank affinity, after all.'
Contemplating for a while longer, Logan decided he'd discuss it once more in the morning with Edric and Silas.
'For now, I have to cultivate my core,' Logan thought, excited. 'If I cultivate for a few more hours now, I'll be able to evolve my core to Bronze level early tomorrow morning.'
Logan sat on his bed and closed his eyes, peacefully slipping into cultivation.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Logan, his speech had spread far and wide. Causing ripples everywhere the speech was broadcasted, it didn't take long before everyone knew that the Mercer family was still alive.
At a familiar academy, a student named David laughed with his friends, as they mocked an F-rank student.
"Look at that loser," he laughed, pointing his finger at the student. "He's an F-rank and he's failing his classes. What a loser."
One of David's C-rank friends tripped the boy, causing him and his books to fall to the ground.
"Come on! Can't you guys just leave me the fuck alone!" the boy screamed, picking up his books. "The only reason I'm failing my classes is because of you people!"
"Now that's just not true," David said, raising his hands while smirking.
"I'm not to blame for your useless sick mother," he continued, smirking.
Tears started to well up in the boy's eyes, his jaw tightening while he was still collecting his last books.
David kept mocking him and his family, completely ignoring a soft beep coming from his phone.
Then, another beep.
And another.
After the third beep, David finally glanced down and opened his messages.