“Winner, Van!”

The students didn’t cheer, or perhaps it was better to say that they didn’t have the opportunity to. They just stared at Van’s hand which was raised by Mr. Jacobs in the air.

Unlike the first match, where they clearly saw what happened and thus they had a lot to say, here… Everything happened in a split second, perhaps literally. And so, they just remained silent, and maybe because it is for the best. If they were Van’s opponent, the cheerings would definitely hurt them.

Mr. Jacobs could not help but sigh as he looked at Van. At his level, he easily stopped Van before his fingers could reach Beatrice’s eye from his position. But what happened before that, he could not even react.

When Van ran during the race, it was long enough for his eyes to adjust to Van’s speed. But this time, since the platform was a whole lot smaller, all he saw was a flash of golden blur trailing across the stage.

‘This… is absolutely crazy’, Mr. Jacobs could not help but slightly grin as a drop of sweat appeared from his face.

Of course, the one that was most affected by what happened was and is Beatrice. She blinked a couple of times as she stared at the ceiling of the covered field. Her neck was resting on Van’s hand as he was still grabbing her uniform’s collar.

“…Oh, sorry”, noticing Beatrice’s dumbfounded expression, Van slightly pushed up and released her uniform’s collar, “Are you okay?”, he asked.

“…Yes”, Beatrice could only answer meekly as she was still quite at a loss as to what happened.

Did she just lose? But she didn’t even have a chance to do anything yet.

Was… their difference that big? Is she fated to be only a number 2 because of Van’s existence? Then what has she been training for all this time?

‘I am… useless’, she thought as she looked to the ground.

Before anymore clouded thoughts could come to her mind, Mr. Jacobs let out a loud clap.

“And that concludes the showdown for this year!”, Mr. Jacobs raised his hand in victory as he howled in joy, “And as expected, I won again this year, Lang!”, he then pointed his finger aggressively towards Mr. Lang, his head almost looking at the ceiling with how much he looked down on Lang.

Mr. Lang only raised his middle finger as the platform instantly dropped to the ground, returning the field to how it was before. Well, except for where Jacobs’ was standing, that part of the field violently rose up, causing Jacobs to catapult into the air.

Jacobs landed beside the female instructor that was supposed to be using this field today. And of course, what he got was another nagging.

“Leave! My students have been waiting for almost an hour now!”, the female instructor said as she pointed her hand outside the field.

“Okay, okay”, Jacobs quickly raised his hand in defeat, “Let’s go claim your rewards then, fishes!”, he then ran towards his students and started pushing them out of the field, and towards the exit where the Explorer guild representatives were already waiting.

“Hey guys”, Harvey waved his hand awkwardly as Van and Beatrice walked past him, “N… nice match”, he stuttered.

His eyes wandered everywhere as he took glances at Beatrice, whose head was currently looking at the ground. He then looked at Van with a complicated expression.

Sure, he was the first to tell Van not to hold back, but he didn’t say to completely obliterate her. That might have damaged her pride more instead of lighting it on fire.

But after a few more seconds, Beatrice lifted her head as she released a deep breath. She then looked at Van straight in the eye and said, “Next time, I will do anything to win 1st place!”

In response to this, Van only nodded with a slight smile on his face.

“Hello! Hello!”

“We’re from the Six-Headed Gryphon guild!”

“Perhaps you are interested in joining our…”

As soon as the students passed by the exits, the guild representatives came in reaching out their hands, trying to recruit potential guild members.

The smaller guilds did not even approach Van and Beatrice, as they knew the big guilds were also looking at them. They would only be wasting their resources in trying to scout and poach them.

Well, there’s no chance for them to recruit Bea or Van, but that doesn’t mean they can’t recruit his friend.

“Would you like to try to join our guild?”

“We have a lot of incentives!”

“Here, you can have this, just visit our guild!”

Harvey was currently being bombarded by offers and gifts, but alas, he rejected all of them.

“I have a thousand of those”, Harvey nonchalantly said as he looked at the Crystals that were in the representatives’ hands.

As expected of a rich kid, Beatrice and Van thought.

There are different types of crystals. Clear, Green, Yellow, Blue, Purple, and then Black. Their values grow exponentially the more condensed they are, with Clear crystals being the most common and can be dropped by any common monster from the Portal. But even then, their value to System Holders can’t be dismissed.

So for Harvey to reject them is a testament to how wealthy his family is.

1 or 2 smaller guilds tried to approach Beatrice as well, but they were instantly rejected. Her parents already owned a small guild, and she promised herself that she would make its name known once she became an Explorer.

Van, however, was the one to take everything that Beatrice and Harvey rejected. Saying that he will try to give it to them later. The smaller guilds, of course, happily gave it to Van. This was also a chance to get close to him.

But alas, they did not know that the only destination of their gifts will be in his pockets.

And then came the big guilds. They only handed Van a piece of paper, containing their offers and the benefits that Van would have if they joined their guild.

“…”, Van, however, only looked at the pieces of paper with a frown on his face.

The representatives who saw Van’s expression quickly panicked, “T-That’s completely negotiable, of course!”, they said, “Once… once we talk to our guild master I am sure we can offer more!”

If only they knew that the reason for Van’s frown was that he did not know how to read.

If he did, he would have probably accepted the first guild that approached him. But alas, the Fates are not with them.

And while the other representatives were panicking, Bellick came into play.

He quickly handed him 3 Yellow crystals.

“!!!”

Van’s eyes quickly widened in shock as his hands instinctively grabbed the 3 crystals and placed them inside his pockets. He was also looking around, trying to see if someone was looking at him and wanted to snatch the crystals away.

His action was understandable, after all, a single yellow crystal would be enough to feed the entire population of the Relic Graveyard for a month.

“My name is Brandon Bellick”, Bellick said as he slightly bowed, “That’s a gift from the Golden Minotaur guild. All I ask is that you remember our name and consider joining us when you can”

Bellick then waved his hand goodbye as he left as quickly as he came. This is one of the techniques he learned when scouting students, always strike strong and strike fast. That way, it would leave a lasting impression.

And it certainly worked towards Van as he nodded his head. But just not in the way that Bellick had hoped. 3 Yellow Crystals, his hands were trembling just thinking about it that he did not even hear what Bellick said after.

‘Should… I send one to Andrea?’

‘Am I rich now?’

‘Should I sell all of them or use it?’

‘Maybe if I send some to the Relic Graveyard, they can sell and distribute it for me’

Numerous thoughts raced inside of Van’s mind as his hands continued to tremble.

“…Evans”

Van only woke up from his stupor when he saw a familiar face approaching him.

“Oh… Miss Sarah!”