Child of Destiny

Shin and the group almost spend almost an entire morning and afternoon exploring the academy square. Most of the time they spent were for tasting different kinds of delicacies made by the gourmet and food enthusiast clubs.

They had tried all sorts of foods such as a variety of meats from all kinds of monstrous beasts, seafood delicacies that were specialties of the Eastern Sea Region, rare vegetables that could only be found in special places, and special herbs that could be used for cooking uncommon delicacies.

They were also a couple of delicacies that were out of the norm, or in simpler terms, exotic foods. Those delicacies could make you think twice about whether they were real food or not because of their unpleasant appearance. Especially the ones that were made from eels, insects, and arachnids.

The ones that were made from snakes, frogs, crocodiles, and likes were still decent looking. But the ones that were previously mentioned were really hard to look at.

The girls refused to try those weird-looking decencies. Even though the seniors, who made them, constantly reassured them that they were delicious and safe to eat. It was not they were picky, it was just they could not endure the appearance of that so-called food.

Shin was still fine. He first grew up in the Black Serpent Mafia Training Camp, so he was never been a picky eater. And since he was someone who was a food enthusiast himself, trying and tasting all kinds of delicacies despite their appearance.

No matter how weird they look, he would obviously try them without hesitation for new discoveries and understanding in the path of cooking.

Perhaps, he could also make new cuisines after trying all of the exotic food within the ‘food bazaar’ of the academy plaza.

Leonard, on the other hand, was someone who grew up in the streets. He would never be picky about what he ate. As long as it was edible and would not make him sick, then he would obviously eat it.

In the place where he grew up alongside his sister, having meals three times a day would always be a luxury, twice was being lucky, while having a single meal was a decent day. He would never waste food in his entire life because he knew the feeling of not being able to eat for an entire day.

And now that he had a decent life because of his encounter with Shin and Arthur, he would never let himself and his sister starve again – to never go back to the life where they had to force themselves to sleep at night because they were hungry.

He obviously tried all of the exotic food that they came across, especially when they were all free. And surprisingly, he found all of them were rather good.

Meanwhile, Arthur was in a similar state. As someone, who was raised by a military family, he was never been a picky eater. He even experienced eating whatever they get in the forest when he was being trained by his strict father and scary uncle.

All of these exotic foods were no different from the normal cuisines that he was eating at home or anywhere else. They were just food in his eyes.

Molton, who was raised within a sheltered environment, would naturally have the same expression as his twin sister. But after seeing the three guys trying those exotic delicacies like they were nothing, he could not help but become curious. Especially when he was the only guy who was not trying them, making him feel a little ashamed.

So, he could only grit his teeth and mimicked the three. He even closed his eyes tightly and chewed with great difficulty as he tried his first exotic cuisine.

Then, his intense chewing gradually slowed down when he found that that taste was not actually as bad as he had imagined. They were surprisingly good that even made him as asked for another one.

The look in his eyes was indescribable as if he stumbled upon a whole new world. The trio could not help but laugh at him when they saw him looking that way.

Aside from their food adventures, the group also explored the other clubs that were recruiting within the academy square. And surprisingly, they found quite a lot of interesting clubs that were able to make them interested.

They were impressed by an engineering club that was showcasing their inventions. There was also a thesis and research club claiming to have discovered a new form of energy. And another club that was promoting a new type of discipline.

The group discovered a lot of clubs and even learned new things from a few of them. They also discovered that these clubs were just regular clubs within the academy. And the recruitment of real elite clubs was actually situated in a different place.

“That was fun! I never think that the academy has this kind of exciting event. And it is just ordinary club recruitment,” commented Arthur as he collapsed on a grass field near the square.

After making a round in the whole square and checking on all of the clubs recruiting there, the group suddenly felt tired and decided to have a quick break.

Shin sat under a tree, hiding in its shade from the hot sun. It was only three in the afternoon, so the heat was still quite hot even for a martial artist like him. The others also did the same, collapsing on the grass one after another.

“So, what is next? Are we going to finally check on the elite clubs?” asked Cloe as she sat beside Shin.

Shin thought for a moment before replying. “I don’t think we have the energy for that. They should be elite clubs for a reason, so we can expect that their recruitment process is going to be a little special.”

“That makes sense,” commented Lorraine before quickly adding. “I wonder what kind of clubs are they?”

Hearing those words, the group subconsciously turned their heads at Molton, all at the same time. This made the guy feel a little shy as he was still not used to receiving such gazes.

It took him quite a few moments before he was able to regain his composure before taking out a small notebook. During their ‘adventure’ in the academy square, he was holding the very same notebook and constantly writing something on it. Everything they checked on one club and moved toward another, he would always record his discoveries and their experiences in each club.

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He was like a scholar or a researcher who loved to recover everything he experienced in his little notebook.

He cleared his throat for a moment before quickly starting. “I may not know how many clubs are there in total within the academy, but I can confidently say that there are only seven clubs that can claim that they are the most elite club that the Magic Ace Academy has.”

“The first is obviously the Hand of Midas. I already tell you everything I know about them, so I will not say anything more about their club.”

“The next should be the Sleeping Dragons. These guys are very mysterious and low-key, so I don’t know much about them. All I know is that all of their members are from the Research Department.”

He paused, then quickly clarified. “I am not talking about the Research Department of the International Research Center situated in our school, but the original Research Department that the academy first has.”

“From what I’ve heard, the seniors from that department are all students of Professor Henry, and all of them are personally picked by him. But I am not actually sure about it since that is all I heard from the rumors.”

“But one thing is for sure, each of their members is strong – very strong, in fact! I heard that, just like the Hand of Midas, they are a club that can make the Student Council and Disciplinary Committee wary of them.”

“They don’t have a vast influence, like the Hand of Midas, but their strength shouldn’t be in the lower end. I am not sure who is the better club but I can tell that their overall strength should be on a similar level.”

The moment he finished talking, he suddenly noticed that everyone where currently looking at Shin. And it was at that moment when Molton remembered that Shin had chosen to be a member of the said Research Department.

Molton suddenly became excited and could not help but ask Shin. “Ah! That is right. Big Bro Shin is a part of that department now. How is it? Is everyone there being really strong? How are their discipline? I heard that they are practicing specialized disciplines, is it true?”

Molton continued to throw a barrage of questions, nothing giving Shin the time to answer even a single of them. This guy seemed to be too obsessed with gathering information about all kinds of things, but most importantly, strong practitioners from different disciplines.

With that, Shin could only sigh helplessly before briefly saying. “I am just a new student, how can I become that familiar with them already? But one thing is for sure, all of my seniors from that department are very strong.”

“Like-… stupidly strong,” he added after remembering his experience when he first met his seniors.

After that, Shin and the others waited for Molton to calm himself down before letting him continue. “After that two, the next is the Martial and Mentalism Unions – or MMU for short. As its name was implying, their members are mostly Martial Artists and Mentalists.”

“MMU is created by the Combat Department and most of its members are also from there. In simpler terms, MMU is a gathering of combat-minded people, who loves fighting and battling.”

“They are the most active among the seven elite clubs. They are mainly taking assault and assassination missions while their secondary priority is escort and protection missions. The other types of missions are not that appealing to them unless it concerns fighting someone or something. Outside of it is not worth of their time.”

“Their members are also required to join different kinds of combat competition, whether they are internal or external ones.”

Pausing for a moment, he swept his gaze on the others. He was trying to see if they were interested in such a club. Aside from Arthur and Leonard who seemed to be in deep contemplation after hearing the description of the MMU, the others were not interested in them.

After that, he continued. “The next on the list should be the Warrior Collage. It is also from Combat Department, but their activities are slightly ‘milder’ than the MMU. And their acceptance of missions is more flexible. As long as the missions will be able to grant them a lot of merit points, they will accept it without question.”

“Oh! MMU and the Warrior Collage are also great rivals. They are always clashing and competing against each other, making their members also quite hostile to the opposing party.”

“It is said that these two clubs are the ones who are responsible for ‘accidents’ and ‘violations’ within the campus. They seem to be always at war with each other.”

“Because of that, the Disciplinary Committee are calling these two clubs their ‘best friends’,” he added with a chuckle as he found it funny.

“Then there is the Student Assistant Association. It is a club that focused on gathering all of the student assistants of each professor and instructions. They are also prioritizing recruiting the representative of each class from different courses.”

“Their main goal is to be as influential and as strong as the Hand of Midas and Sleeping Dragons. Unfortunately, they still haven’t achieved such a feat as it is much harder than they had expected.”

He then paused for a moment before continuing. “As for the final two, it should be the Researcher Union and the Wings of Dawn.”

“The former is a gathering of the elite students studying at the Research Center. Most of them are senior students that are about to graduate and want to focus on their research and don’t want to meddle with the power struggle of the clubs within the school.”

“As for the Wings of Dawn-… Unfortunately, I don’t have much information about them. But from what I’ve heard, they are a junior task force unit organized by the academy itself. Each of their members is handpicked by the academy and nurtured to be the best among the best of elite students.”

“They are more mysterious and more secretive than the Sleeping Dragons, but their strengths are rumored to be the strongest among everyone else.”

“I don’t know which club is the strongest – the Hand of Midas, the Sleeping Dragons, or the Wings of Dawn. But all I know is they are all strong enough to form a ‘council’ with the Student Council and Disciplinary Committee.”

He then paused for a moment as he remembered something before quickly adding with full confidence. “Oh! This information is from our Big Sister. She is a member of the Disciplinary Committee, so I can assure you that all of the information is legitimate and true.”

…