After the end of Professor Aldric’s speech, a quiet murmur spread throughout the conference hall.
Students rose from their seats one by one, and as they moved toward the exit, almost everyone was talking about one topic.
The Special Area.
Some spoke with envy about the ten people who had been selected, everyone wished they could enter such a place, and now all ten quotas had been distributed and none of them had been chosen.
Although along with envy, there was also understanding, they knew all the people who had been selected deserved to be selected and could not complain about this matter.
Others guessed what treasures might be hidden in that unknown world and discussed with their friends how much those ten people would progress after returning.
Or even how many quotas the academies and guilds from other countries and different parts of the world had received.
Some were only talking about the Base battle and whether the rumors they had heard these past few days were true or not.
In the meantime, Professor Aldric came back to the podium and said with a calm but firm voice.
"The eight people who are currently inside the academy... please stay here for a few minutes."
A new murmur spread through the hall.
"Eight people?"
"Wasn’t the quota ten people?"
"So where are the other two?"
But no one had an answer, slowly the hall emptied, and only a few people remained among the wide seats.
Kain calmly stood up and was ready to leave, he looked at Lian and gave a faint smile.
"Well, from here on, I’m not with you anymore, I think we should part ways here."
Lian didn’t say anything, he just placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder, and that brief gesture was enough for Kain, and he continued.
"I’m going to the dormitory, I’ll wait for you when the meeting is over."
Lian nodded in confirmation, Kain wasn’t upset at all that he hadn’t been selected, only a few days had passed since his class had evolved to four stars.
He had no fame, no major achievement registered, and no one knew him at the level of the academy’s top students.
It was natural that his name wouldn’t be seen among the limited quotas of the Special Area, but unlike before... this didn’t disappoint him.
Instead, it created more motivation inside him, he now knew he had chosen the right path.
Maybe he hadn’t been selected this time... but next time, he himself would stand alongside the country’s best students, and at that time he would definitely shine.
He just shouldn’t be lazy and should take advantage of all opportunities in his friends’ absence to progress.
With this thought, he smiled, waved to everyone, and left the hall.
A few seconds of silence passed among the group, and then Marcus locked his hands behind his back and said with his usual tone.
"It seems our group is going to come together again." It hadn’t been long since they had separated, and again they were going to enter a Special Area together as a group.
Could it be fate?
"Almost, just this time we have three new members." Cassian gave a short laugh.
His gaze moved respectively to Seraphina, the head of the student council, and the empty seat next to them.
"And of course Nathan when he returns."
"As long as they don’t cause trouble, I have no problem." Liana shrugged.
"I doubt the head and I, the vice head of the student council, are the type of people who cause trouble." Seraphina immediately answered with her usual calm smile.
"I’m still not sure..." Liana whispered under her breath.
Seraphina’s smile didn’t change, but the coldness in the two girls’ gazes was completely obvious, neither of them even tried to hide the hidden hostility between them.
Selina quietly sighed.
Marcus just moved his gaze between the two and preferred to say nothing, intervening in a battle between two ladies was very dangerous and could end in his death.
Cassian also seemed completely unused to such an atmosphere and felt a little awkward, and just pretended to be indifferent.
Only Lian truly didn’t care, as if the conflict between these girls wasn’t because of him at all.
Until that moment, the student council president had been standing a little further away, watching their conversation without interfering.
Finally, he calmly came toward them, he was tall, his neat black hair matched the student council’s formal uniform.
His calm gray eyes revealed no emotion, his posture showed years of training.
No pride or arrogance could be seen in his behavior, but at the same time, the way he walked made those around him unconsciously make way for him.
When he stood in front of the group, he gave a short smile.
"I think first I should introduce myself." And he extended his hand.
"Rindo Valcrest, head of the student council."
Cassian stepped aside with respect.
He was one of the most serious candidates to succeed Rindo after his graduation.
But for now, he still worked as a member of the council directly under his supervision.
Rindo gave a brief look at Cassian and nodded, the two knew each other and there was no need to waste time, and then his gaze fixed on Lian.
"We’ve seen each other before, but this is the first time we have a chance to talk properly." Rindo looked directly into Lian’s eyes.
"Before anything else, I wanted to thank you for what you did for the Base."
"You saved many people’s lives and did a great service to the country."
"You even risked your own life without hesitation."
The atmosphere around fell silent for a moment, being praised by the current strongest student of the academy was a great honor, but not for Lian... he had been praised by much bigger people.
And without any change in his expression, he answered.
"I just tried to do my duty." In fact, it was all his fault that those events had happened at all, but he couldn’t say that, right?
Rindo gave a very small smile.
"There aren’t many students who even know what their duty to their country is."
This sentence made the others lower their heads, especially Liana, Selina, and Marcus who hadn’t been present in the base defense operation.
"He’s not one of those arrogant and stiff leaders, but I feel he’s serious and tough." A few seconds later, Marcus quietly approached Selina and said under his breath.
"Yeah, but it’s exactly what I expected." Selina also nodded very quietly.
Then they also shook hands with the student council president one by one and got to know each other, since they were all more or less the most famous faces of the current academy, they actually knew each other to some extent, so the introduction process wasn’t that long.
"When will the other members arrive?" A few moments later, Lian raised another question.
"Nathan will probably return in a few hours." Rindo answered, but then paused.
"About the last two, Roderick and Elena, honestly I have no information."
Everyone looked at him, Roderick and Elena had gained a lot of fame in their early days at the academy, but it had been a while since there was any news of them, and their fame was gradually fading.
"Those two are still inside the Ruined Realm, I don’t know if the quota notification has reached them or not, and I don’t even know if they intend to return or not."
"Could someone really miss the quota to enter a Special Area?" Liana said quietly, in her view, only fools would do such a thing.
"Unless they found something more valuable." Marcus frowned.
No one answered, this possibility, however unlikely, was not impossible.
"A question." Then Selina took over the discussion.
"As the student council president, do you know anything about the Special Area? For example, what kind of place is it? What monsters are there? Or even what its name is?"
Everyone waited for an answer, but Rindo just gave a bitter smile.
"Honestly, I know about as much as you do, the federation has declared all information about this area classified."
"For now, we have to wait for Professor Aldric’s explanations."
At that same moment... the large door of the hall opened again, the sound of familiar footsteps echoed in the silent space of the hall.
Everyone turned around at the same time, Professor Aldric entered with his usual calmness, without saying even a single word, he stood in front of the eight selected students.
His gaze calmly passed over each of them, a few seconds of silence remained, and then he said with a quiet voice.
"Now let’s talk about the first Special Area you are going to experience in your lives."
And at that same moment, the hall doors behind him quietly closed.