( Luke's POV )
Luke's life shifted dramatically once the classes started at the knight's academy.
On the plus side, the system issued missions for him, which gave anywhere between 7-10 levels to him for clearing a subject. Significantly reducing the leveling burden on his head.
However, on the other hand, he was forced to learn things that he was not keen on learning such as the historic knights of the Terra Nova lore and their accomplishments.
As if he were in school all over again, he was expected to mug-up their history and attempt periodic tests, which felt like an unnecessary waste of time to him as it could be time that he spent training.
Unfortunately, he could not afford to fail a subject either as it was worth 7-10 levels each and hence had to dedicate time to mugging up their history and keep upto date with lessons, even though he did not wish to.
Almost from the very first day since academy started, Luke and Jerome were perceived differently by their peers, as the more competitive ones who had their brains in their feet, kept trying to provoke the two over and over again.
" Hey, reservation boy, why don't you have a spar with me? Show me some of your master knight techniques-"
" My father always said, respect is earnt and not given.
Why must you get special treatment, just because your father is the Duke? Do you really have what it takes to stand amongst us?"
Provocations like these were faced by the duo on a daily basis, however, it did not bother Luke one bit.
Luke was the definition of Elephants did not pay attention to the barking of dogs, as to him, it did not matter what they thought about him, as he was solely focused on improving himself for the tough times that were to come ahead.
As a young child. He was called a lot worse by his schoolmates because his father ran away, hence, he learnt how to deal with their bullying since young age and eventually realized that fighting back only made it worse, while ignoring them discouraged them and eventually made them stop.
Jerome however, was not like Luke, and tolerated no insult directed towards him.
Jerome, unlike Luke, harbored a sharp tongue, finely honed from years of navigating the treacherous waters of noble society, where a well-placed word could be more devastating than a sword thrust. His patience with the bullies was as thin as the edge on a knight's blade, and he wielded his wit with the same precision.
On the third day of the academy, as the duo made their way across the dormitory halls, heading towards the stables, a group of their peers, led by a boy named Thomas who came first in the open selections, came face to face against them.
Judging by the state of their muddy clothes and shoes they seemed to have just excited the weighted training hall, however, they did not seem exhausted at all.
With his nose held high and a sneer that seemed permanently etched onto his face, Thomas decided to block their path, feeling confident in the strength of the pack behind him.
"Ah, if it isn't the Duke's dog of a son, Jerome. Come to show us how a real nobleman whines?" the boy jeered, his cronies snickering behind him.
Jerome's eyes narrowed, a cold smile playing on his lips. " A dog's whine? I'd prefer that to demonstrating how a pig wallows, Thomas. But I see you're already excelling in that. How fitting that you've brought your swineherd to watch."
The laughter of Jerome's tormentors turned to gasps. Thomas's face reddened, his fists clenching at his sides.
"And what of you, Oliver? Still trying to wash off the stench of common mud from your blood with those fancy clothes?" Jerome continued, his gaze cutting to another bully, who looked momentarily taken aback, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
Luke watched, a hint of admiration in his eyes as he allowed Jerome to pick apart the bullies as he wished.
While he himself chose the path of silent strength, Jerome's method of defense was equally effective. Their bullies, who were commoners accustomed to physical confrontation, were ill-prepared for a battle of wits as they thought that if they provoked Jerome by calling him a 'dog' he would take a swing at them, but he instead retorted with a witty comeback of his own.
As they walked away, leaving a stunned and sputtering group behind, Jerome whispered to Luke, "Let them play in the mud, Skylion. It's where pigs like them shine the brightest.
People like us? We're born better- "
Luke said nothing to this comment as he could not disagree with it more, however, since he was cozying up to Jerome, he kept his disapproval to himself.
On the plus side, their path to the training grounds was uninterrupted afterward.
The bullies, licking their wounds, seemed to find other targets for their jeers, at least for the time being as slowly but surely Jerome's reputation as a sharp-tongued nobleman grew, and with it, animosity among his peers.
After all, in a world where lineage and legacy mattered a lot, Jerome had mastered the art of defending his honor with nothing but his wits and his words which pissed off those who disliked him even more as despite their best efforts to throw mud on his shining honor, nothing seemed to stick.
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( Cervantez's POV )
Over the last three days, Cervantez began feeling as if he were on cloud nine as he managed to recruit all the targets that he wished to include into his guild.
1)Expert Mage - Lysa ( Check )
2) Berserker - Tor ( Check )
3) Tank - Cola ( Check )
4) Archer- Jex ( Check )
5) Tracker - Snoop ( Check )
6) Inscription master - Tony ( Check )
Everyone, including the illusive inscription master Tony accepted his offer to join his guild against the promise of receiving a fixed stipend and no forced guild missions for next 11 months was too juicy to refuse.
With this recruitment, Cervantez was satisfied with the core line-up of his guild as he managed to rope in all the best talents that needed to be recruited apart from 'TheBoss' who was as elusive as ever.
Even better, Cervantez managed to recruit them before they had finalized their skill development path and managed to guide them in the best direction that would provide them with the best opportunity to grow.
Utilizing his future knowledge, he had created a platform for these talents to flourish that had the potential of making them even better than they were in his past life, as just thinking about the 'What If' of them improving even beyond their past limits, gave Cervantez goosebumps all over his spine.
" Finally, I can now focus on reaching level 100 before anyone else and secure my extra skill-spot.
Once I do that and establish the guild, I can move forward to acquiring the best skills on the market, to leap forward my career as a warrior" Cervantez said to himself as he felt excited by his future prospects now that finally things were going as he intended them to go.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone! ///