Forest of Obscurity
Namer Academy
Academia City, Namer Island
8th September 2285 A.G.M
Eighteen years after Hailey Incident
After the Hero candidate and his companion warped themselves away, Eren and Ash continued on their own, gaining more points by getting rid of the simulated Maleficants without saying anything to each other. They were getting closer to the exit, the fact that the amount of Maleficants were reducing was a sign that they were getting close. As they continued further, Ash kept throwing glances at Eren. He had been sneaking glances at him since they began their journey, but as a person who didn't talk much, Ash didn't speak up about what was going on in his head. Eren noticed Ash behavior and knew that Ash wanted to say something but he didn't bother to force him to speak. He was fine with the silence as they got rid of the Maleficants. But now that there were hardly any more Maleficants to fight, the silence and Ash's behavior was getting on his nerves. When Ash was about to glance at him for the fifth time, Eren turned around and glared at him.
"Say what you want to say," Eren said.
"The Hero candidate...How was he," Ash said.
"Is that what you really want to talk about," Eren said.
"What else am I suppose to talk about," Ash said.
"I thought you were going to chastise me for wasting my time fighting the Hero candidate," Eren said. "Now I don't have enough points to make it to the top five spot." Eren's tussle with Reo had taken up a lot of time, time that he could have used to either steal more points from others or kill more of the fake Maleficants. A part of him had believed that he would have been able to defeat the Hero candidate and thereby take his points but things didn't turn out that way. Now the points that he had was still the same amount he had accumulated. Five thousand and sixty nine merit points.
"How many points do you have," Eren asked.
"Eight thousand," Ash said. Eren faced forward with a frown on his face as they walked out of a bunch of branches that were blocking their paths. Upon getting through it, they saw what looked like a road that led to a towering black gate. In front of the gate was a bunch of students, half of them were sitting on the ground, exhausted, while some stood chatting among themselves. As Eren approached them with Ash, some of them turned to see Eren and their expression turned bitter. These ones were the ones Eren had beaten and taken their points from. Eren ignored them as his focus settled on Reo and his group who were there already. Reo nodded at Eren before turning his attention back to his group. Coming to join him and Ash was Belle Satou. Unfortunately Eren hadn't run into her in the forest, so they hadn't been able to team up but it looked like Belle did quite well for herself.
"So you guys survived," Belle said.
"Were we in any danger," Eren said.
"Hmm, the Forest of obscurity has been known to trap people within it's deeper parts." Belle said. "It's enchantment is that powerful."
"If the forest is that dangerous, why the hell are we holding a test in it," Eren said. As Eren and Belle discuss the forest, a group of students approached them. Eren recognized them as some of his victims. Two of them was a Noble born while the last was not a Noble born but came from a rich and powerful family. They didn't seem that happy, especially the aristocrats.
"You...You vermin..." The green hair aristocrats pointed at Eren, his anger visible for all to see. "How...dare you go against your superior..."
"Move it," A guttural voice said. The three students turned behind themselves to see Victor Jaeger and his teammates behind them. The three students yelped and ran away, making Victor Jaeger approach Eren, Ash and Belle. Though Victor had an eyebrow raised at seeing Belle with these lowborns, he said nothing about it, turning his attention to Eren and Ash.
"Asterion....you damn Bastard!" Victor growled. His aura was steadily rising just as Professor Wingram and his aide, Ayden arrived. Victor sensing the presence of the professors, lowered his aura and moved away with his group. Professor Wingram had his eye on Eren for a second before he turned his attention to all the students. He snapped his hands and a screen popped off showing the result of the evaluation.
"It looks like you've all managed to survive the forest. Good. And now listed on the screen are the result of your evaluations. As I said before, the top five rankers receives a thousand merit points monthly. Of course, for those who were not able to make it in the top five there is always the chance for you to challenge your fellow classmates for their points. And now, I'll leave Ayden here to help you with the rest of the orientation." Professor Wingram said. He cast one last look at Eren before he departed away, going through the gate. Meanwhile Eren who was unaware of the professor's interest in him was checking out his result. He didn't have to look through the hundreds students name on the screen as when he got to the sixth place, he found his name.
"Sixth place...Damn, I was so close," Eren said. He turned to look at Ash. He had gotten second place with eight thousand points right after the Hero candidate who had maintained his first place with nine thousand and two points. In third place was Nox Havok with seven thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine points. Victor had come in fourth place with seven thousand, four hundred points followed closely by Rhea Mogarin with sixty thousand points.
"Looks like I'm ranked tenth on the ranking," Belle said.
"How's that possible," Eren muttered. "You look too strong to be in tenth place," Eren was a great judge of someone's strength and he had already judged Belle Satou to be one of the most dangerous student in the first year. Belle couldn't help but grin at Eren's remark. To be honest, Belle didn't care so much for the ranking. Her focus was on her research. Ayden, Professor Wingram's assistant drew the attention of the students to himself. The bulky short man, with red hair began to explain to the first years what life was going to be like for them now that they had sorted out their ranks and what the coming weeks were going to be.
"The gate behind me leads to the students dormitory where you will be assigned your rooms. Each year are assigned a dorm based on colors. For you first years, you will be stationed at the orange dormitory. The top five rank students will be assigned their very own private buildings in the Orange Dorm sector. As for when your classes will begin, there will be a one week worth of break to give you the chance to acclimate to your new circumstances. Get to explore the school grounds, learn your class schedule, and the school rules. After the week is done, classes will begin the following week with an announcement from the Director of the Academy... What is it?" Ayden stopped speaking as a student raised his arm up to ask a question. It was Percy Osborn, the rich kid Eren had defeated.
"Professor Wingram said we could issue a challenge for a duel," Percy said.
"That is true," Ayden replied.
"How does it work," Percy asked. Eren couldn't help but smirk as he looked at Percy, understanding why the boy was asking the question. Sounds like someone wants a rematch.
"By pressing the school insignia on your left chest pocket, you can send a request with the information of your challenge and your challengee. Also the one whom you challenge must then accept the challenge in order for you to schedule a duel. But note that, those of the top five rank have the right to refuse a challenge as it is their privilege's, got it. And also bear in mind if you are not part of the top five, you cannot refuse a challenge." Eren had no desire to refuse any challenge. In fact he hoped that many of his fellow student would challenge him. It would be an easy way for him to accumulate merit points. "I would also like to inform you of the interclass ranking tournament that is held quarterly each year. Of course, more information about the Interclass tournament should be given to you in your practical field class. For now, follow me to the place you'll be spending the rest of your life as a Namer student."