'What did she just say?'

For a second I didn't know how to respond. My mind blanked out.

"Did I mishear? Are you saying that you're dropping out of the academy?"

"Mhm. You didn't hear wrongly."

Amanda calmly nodded her head.

"Haaaa..."

Leaning back on the bench, I looked at the blue sky above.

'How did it come to this...'

No, I knew exactly why it had come to this. I just didn't want to say it.

To be honest, I didn't know what to do. There was no solution to her problem.

No matter how much I tried to wrap my head around the problem, I couldn't think of a solution for her current predicament.

Saving her father from the demon world was not something I could do with my current abilities.

Unlike Immorra where I more or less knew the circumstances there, I knew nothing about the demon world.

Furthermore, the place was far more dangerous than Immorra. No scheme or trickery would ever help me in that place. I knew my limits.

Perhaps if I chose to hole up myself there I might be able to survive...

But that would be granted I had enough food and water for myself. If not, I'd die of starvation or dehydration before the third cataclysm arrived and the gate that connected the worlds opened up.

"Are you not going to ask me why?"

Amanda asked as she interrupted my thoughts.

"You must have your reasons, no?"

A bitter smile appeared on my face as I responded.

I already knew the reason why she was acting like that. I didn't want to ask too much.

No one liked it when someone asked too many questions. I didn't want to seem too invasive.

Especially since this had something to do with her father.

"Have you told the others?"

As such, I decided to change the topic.

"No, you're the first"

Amanda shook her head.

"I see..."

Hearing what Amanda had to say, somehow, a part of me felt happy.

I knew that she didn't mean anything special by telling me that I was the first person she told the news of her dropout as it could've just been because I was the first person she properly talked to for the past few weeks, but...

I was still happy.

Not sure why, but it made me feel better.

"What are you going to do about Emma? She's probably going to be in for the shock of her life"

I said as a thought suddenly struck me.

Without a doubt, Emma would lose her mind once she found out about this news.

"Can you help me keep it a secret? At least not until the tournament ends."

Amanda suddenly bit her lips, as her fists curled into a ball.

"...I want to tell her personally"

"I can do that."

I nodded my head slightly.

Not once did I plan on telling Emma the news. Given her personality, she would go on a small rampage which I wasn't too keen on being a part of.

"Thank you."

"Don't worry about it"

After that, we both became silent. This continued for a couple of minutes before I eventually stood up as I saw the sky darken.

"I should get going"

"Me too"

Amanda similarly stood up. Looking at Nola, Amanda waved.

"Bye, Nola"

"Say bye to Amanda"

Looking at Nola, I pointed at Amanda.

"Um, bye sister"

"Sister?"

My eyebrow raised as I looked in Amanda's direction.

Our eyes interlocked for a couple of seconds, and Amanda shook her head.

"I didn't tell her to call me that"

"Right..."

'Since when did they become so close?'

I wondered as I looked at Amanda suspiciously.

To be comfortable enough to call her sister...

Something was fishy.

Unaware of my thoughts, Amanda crouched down and patted Nola in the head, and whispered something to her ear.

"Be good Nola, next time I'll see you I'll give you amazing treats"

"Whaaa!"

"Oy, that's my thing"

I protested.

Only I could do that. If there was another person doing that, the bribes would start to become less effective.

I couldn't allow such a thing to happen.

"Not anymore"

Turning around, the edges of Amanda's lips curled slightly.

"Didn't you hear her call me sister? As her sister, it is within my duty to spoil her a little."

"Tsk, she most likely said that because you look beautiful. Otherwise, she wouldn't have spared you a glance"

I muttered as I clicked my tongue. This was the power of beauty I say.

"..."

"What's wrong?"

Tilting my head, I looked at Amanda. A surprised look appeared on her face.

"...you called me beautiful"

Her voice was so quiet that she sounded like a mosquito.

"Are you not?"

With so many people gunning for her, she'd have to be dense to think that she wasn't beautiful.

Why in the world was she surprised?

"N-nothing, bye Nola"

Waving at Nola one more time, Amanda turned around and disappeared within the crowd much to Nola's disappointment.

"Bye"

Nola waved back.

"Let's go, we should go to meet mom and dad"

Grabbing Nola's hand, I headed towards the arena grounds. Looking down, I firmed my grip of her hand and reminded her.

"Make sure you don't let go, okay?"

"Um"

***

All the games ended at 5 P.M.

Today, the only ones that were participating in games for the first years were Amanda, Jin, and I.

Unsurprisingly, we all managed to secure the first place spot in our respective group and hence made it to the next round.

"Did you see Jin? He was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. Not only his looks, just the way he dominated his match took away my breath."

"Did you see the Aerin girl from Lutwik academy? She without a doubt will clinch first place in the dummy massacre games...though I'm a bit bitter about the fact that she isn't from the Lock, I'm just glad that she's human."

By the time the headmaster was done with his speech, the sky had already turned dark. Many spectators brushed past me as they looked back on the games that happened today.

Walking back to my dorm, their discussions even reached my ears.

As I walked I did manage to overhear some conversations about me. Unfortunately, most of them were not good.

Some called me a narcissist, some called me an idiot, and some called me arrogant. Apparently, the interview that I took after my game wasn't well-received by the masses.

To those discussions, I just turned a blind eye.

Actions spoke louder than words. Once I reached first place and did what I said I'd do in the interview, I'd love to see the faces that they would make.

'”Ding!

Walking with my phone in my hand, a notification suddenly clogged up my screen.

[A message to all participating students. Tomorrow morning at 7 A.M, you are all to gather at the waiting room to further discuss the direction of the tournament. Sincerely, Ebonie Wills]

"...Tsk"

Reading the message, my tongue inadvertently clicked.

"I guess it's time that I met them."

The three strongest and most influential individuals within the academy.

Ebonie Wills, Mark Mendez, Perry Crossley.

Each individual with a talent that rivaled the likes of Jin, Amanda, and the others. At the moment they were all in their last year, and their respective rank was around <B> rank.

A rank that was comparable to some of the instructors in the academy.

This was good and all for the academy, but there was a slight problem...

'They are each the head of one of the three major factions in the Lock'

During the past few months, I had been approached a couple of times by most factions in the academy.

For obvious reasons, I had not been approached by the Blood Supremacist group as my circumstances were quite similar to Kevin's.

My parents weren't of very prominent lineage, and given my talent, without a doubt, they found me an eyesore.

Fortunately, I had somehow managed to weasel my way out of joining a faction, but I knew that this wouldn't last for long.

In fact, I feared that the day would come as fast as tomorrow.

For that, I knew that I had to prepare myself.

***

'”Clank!

Returning to her dorm, Amanda closed the door behind her.

After her father disappeared a few weeks ago, Amanda had a lot of time to think about her future.

At first, she agonized over the decision of dropping out for quite a while, but after the days passed and the situation at the guild worsened, she knew that this was the best decision she could take.

In fact, Amanda never actually needed to attend the academy. She already had the best training equipment at her disposal.

The guild also didn't lack <S> ranked heroes that could guide her.

The only reason she attended the academy was because of her father's insistence. But now that he was no longer here, Amanda knew that it was time for her to grow up and take over her dad's role.

At least until he came back...

"Dad."

Taking out a white orb from her dimensional space, Amanda gently caressed it.

The orb in her hand was her confirmation. It was what confirmed to her that her father was still alive.

Only once it broke would she know that her father had died. Till the orb didn't break, Amanda knew that she could still hope.

Hope for her father to return.

Feeling the warmth of the orb, Amanda felt a little bit better.

Somewhere out there in the universe, her dad was fighting and struggling with all his might to get back to her.

Amanda knew this. This was without a doubt something that she wholeheartedly believed.

Even though her father was never around, Amanda knew just how much he loved her. She understood that.

...and so she made up her mind.

She was going to drop out of the Academy and take over the guild.

She was going to grow it to heights that it never reached before. By the time she would reunite with her father, she would show him something that would let him be proud of her.

This was her goal.

"Haaa..."

Amanda sighed.

Though this was easy to say, it was much harder to accomplish.

Running a guild was not easy, and she knew firsthand how difficult it was. Now that her father was not here, she knew that she had to shoulder all of the heavy responsibilities he had.

Though it would take a long time, Amanda set her mind to achieving her goal.

'”Fwua!

Putting the orb away, Amanda changed into more comfortable clothes.

Taking out a wooden brush, Amanda sat down on her bed and brushed her hair.

As she brushed her hair, she thought back on today's events. From her game today to the incident at the park where she met Ren's sister, Nola.

She couldn't forget that moment. How could she forget such an adorable little girl?

It was only later that she found out that she was in fact Ren's sister.

As she looked at the two, at first, Amanda couldn't see any resemblance between the two, but after she saw the two together, she understood why they were siblings.

It was their eyes.

Their beautiful deep blue eyes that reminded her of the sea. A place she had once been with her dad when she was young.

'Tsk, she most likely said that because you look beautiful.'

Suddenly, Amanda recalled Ren's words. Unbeknownst to Amanda, her cheeks reddened slightly.

Despite having heard this sentence throughout her whole life, this was the first time she felt something other than indifference and disgust.

She couldn't explain it, but a subtle warm feeling washed over her body.

Her mood also seemed to improve.

"Beautiful..."

Amanda muttered slightly before she turned off the lights and closed her eyes.