Chapter 104: Classmate(s)
From one of the high-tech doors, a figure of a woman existed that scrutinized him from tip to toe, though he was doing the very same thing to her. She had pale skin and a confident expression, her gaze directed downward with a piercing intensity. Her platinum blonde, slightly tousled hair frames her face, lending an air of nobility.
She also wore a pair of earrings and had several piercings over her ears.
It wasn't that hard to realize that she was his classmate, though he didn't know the name or anything; he didn't even know the genders of his classmates aside from the number that there were nine of them.
"New blood... and the Highborne at that, like this place wasn't already filled up with the stuck-up nobles. So, what's your name, new one?"
She asked rather boldly as she closed the distance between the two of them in an instant as she looked at him curiously. It wasn't every day that they had a new classmate, and right now, she was the last attendee together with one more female student; they were the youngest among all of the students in the Special Course Class.
"Arcturus Crawford, at your service, My Lady."
Arcturus gave her bow as the Imperial Etiquette ordered because one of the lessons that he received from his master was the one about the Etiquette among the nobility and so on. It was most peculiar, but his master insisted on learning how to behave among the highest echelons of society.
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He underwent a very extensive lesson on Imperial Etiquette that was drilled into him by Grandmaster Byrmellir because he knew that his disciple would be meeting a lot of the Imperial Aristocrats or people who were dwelling on the manners.
That was especially true for the Highborne Asuryani, where the concepts of Imperial Etiquette were taken very, very seriously because everything must be according to the protocol.
The behavior of the people was obviously included in this.
"Ts... another one of the posh ones, whatever... Jeniael Luxford."
The young woman introduced herself after him.
"And yes, I am new to the Special Course Class... one of the new Irregulars in this place."
He looked around, noticing that the place was probably empty, as when they were talking for around five minutes or so.
"So, what did you do to be placed in this group of misfits?"
He looked at Jeniael, who sat on one of the sofas. Soon enough, he sat down across from her.
"Probably scored very well in the test, though it is not really that secret that I got here on the recommendations."
Arcturus wasn't really bothering to hide this because soon enough, everyone would know that he was here on the personal recommendations from the Lord Padishah-Marshall, Imperial HighCom, and Grandmaster Arsit Byrmellir.
It was generally frowned on, as technically speaking, he was one of the privileged students who didn't get accepted into the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy, and that wasn't really that well accepted within the student body of the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy.
However, it wasn't like he really cared about that because he was still a member of the Special Course Class, and the students of the Special Course Class wouldn't have that much relationship with the students of the regular classes.
"Someone has some background... so what are you? Bastard child or someone just privileged too much?"
Jeniael asked as she was rather curious herself.
As someone who came from one of the most prestigious and powerful Aristocratic Lineage House of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya and was born with Super-High Risk Psyker Ability, even though she wasn't really eligible to receive so many recommendations to sponsor her entrance to the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy.
There were not many people who received the recommendations to the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy, and those who received it received it for some reason.
"Neither of them, just someone who has many benefits for the Academy, to turn him down, and my master decided to send me here to the Academy."
Arcturus answered carefreely as he noticed that she was staring at him rather intensely, though a certain part of him was rather enchanted by her ethereal beauty. He could see that her hair color, which was whiter than snow, was natural, and her azure blue eyes were almost shining with power like his purple eyes.
Even an idiot would be able to tell that she belonged to a very powerful Noble Family of the Bloodline Lineage Aristocrats of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya because she was almost like the embodiment of all stereotypes of the Highborne Asruyani.
Not to mention her rather haughty behavior, which was even more evident because she wasn't even trying to hide it at all.
"So you are the newest disciple of the Grandmaster Byrmellir. I heard the rumors from my father that the Grandmaster took disciple somewhere in the fringes of the Imperial Space who also participated in the invasion of the Orkish WAAAGH and the Mind Fleet Leviathan from the side of the squids..."
Arcturus cocked his eyebrow as he looked at the woman in question, because he was rahte surprised that he was this kind of famous.
While he predicted and anticipated that he would become rather known among the higher-ups of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya, the fact that even some members of the younger generation already knew about his existence wasn't something that sat rather comfortably with him.
He wasn't that good with people, and now everyone would be immediately kissing his ass; he knew that being someone who was a disciple of Arsit Byrmellir, who was the most powerful Beyonder of the entire Empire, while also having a very impressive set of abilities and he was also destined to become Beyonder.
"It seems that my reputation proceeds me... how unfortunate..."
He complained as the woman who was sitting across from him looked at him in confusion for a few moments.
"You know that many would kill to be that famous? But I guess that for someone who has chosen the profession of being lowly Star Mercenary and Bounty Hunter, it is indeed detrimental."
He wasn't really surprised by her comments because it was clear that she was a true member of the Imperial Aristocracy, so her disdain for Arcturus's profession was already something that he had taken into account.
"What an irony of the world... a rich girl of the Imperial Aristocracy not liking other Highbornes... how original."
Arcturus said casually as she suddenly stopped in her tracks and didn't have any word for it for some time. Jeniael looked abashed at the critique for some time and looked at Arcturus for some time, before she finally realized that she was indeed a bit hypocritical.
"Ts... this time, you are right. Whatever... so, why exactly have you decided to come here?"
She asked curiously because, from the information that she read about him, it was clear that he was someone with rather an unclear past, and there was also the fact that it was confirmed that he was 1st-Generation Highborne Asuryani.
"There is no better institution for me to learn the Psionic Arts than the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy aside from it being able to provide the resources for my cultivation needs..."
Those were his primary reasons for attending the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy.
"Hmm... at least there is another person within the Special Course Class... because there is only a few of us right now, it gets pretty boring. Especially in the Special Assignments when we need to complete them in groups."
This was relatively new information for him because he wasn't really informed about the Special Class Assignments, but he could have already expected them. Normally speaking, this was a unique type of examination when the students were required to complete some tasks together in task.
Because there were only a few students in the Special Course Class and on top of that every one of them had their special circumstances, there were rather several problems with that.
"Who else is right now present at the Academy from the Special Course Class? Also... what are the Special Class Assignments that you are so complaining about?"
Even though Arcturus found Jeniael rather pushy, even though the woman, contrary to everything, wasn't fond of the other Aristoctracts, and yet she behaved the same way. It was rather a mystery how contradictory women could be.
"Only another rather new student who was admitted a few months ago together with me is basically present, and aside from us, there is one more. A Votann Forge Master, but he spends most of the time in the forges of the Academy practicing forging weapons and armaments. And to the Assignments..."
She made a small pause before she continued as annoyed as she could get.
"The Academy assigns Special Missions to the students of the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy every six months, and the students have around one week or so to complete the mission. They are usually high-end combat missions that are to be completed in the groups, or they are sending the students into the battle zones to temper themselves and gather their kills."
Arcturus nodded as it was rather straightforward.
"So, this time, I will ask... what are you doing here? From what I understand, the House Luxford is one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, Bloodline Aristocratic Lineage House of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya. Initially, I would have thought that you would be like... preparing for an arranged marriage or something like that?"
Not wanting to sound arrogant or anything, but right now, he just wanted to return the jab at her in his own way, and from the expression she was making, he could clearly see that he had managed to get under her skin rather very well.
It was clear that she was rather sensitive to things like this, and the way her eyes narrowed told everything that he needed to know, but contrary to his exception, she just sighed in defeat and didn't make a scene.
"I guess that I called for that one, didn't I?"
As he was talking with her, Arcturus realized that Jeniael was rather easy to talk to, even though she was rather a stuck-up bit, ironically. Although she wasn't the one who really dwells on manners or something, she still had that grace of a born girl in a very prestigious household.
Arcturus knew of the most important Bloodline Lineage Aristocratic Houses of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya, and the House Luxford was standing at the top of the pyramid and was easily regarded as one of the three most powerful and noble houses of the entire Empire.
Why?
In the past, they produced a Beyonder, and the main branch was descended from the Beyonder. Not to mention, they were one of the very few factions within the Eternal Empire of the Asruya that were actually backed by Beyonder, and among the Bloodline Lineage Aristocratic Houses, they were one of two Houses that had active Beoynder.
There was a third Bloodline Lineage Aristocratic House that, too, had Beyonder, but their Beyonder Realm Professional perished within the Cosmos several decades ago in an attack of Void Beast, apparently.
So, yeah being a direct descendant of the House Luxford was rather a big deal, like really, really big deal.
Even though the Eternal Empire of the Asurya wasn't some kind of Feudal Monarch but instead based on the combination of Meritocracy and heavy Militarism, the Nobility of the Empire still had a high pull over the politics of the Empire, especially when the said Bloodline Lineage Aristocratic House was powerful and had many powerful Warriors, Psionics and Psykers.
If not, then their power was rather abysmal and inconsequential.
In fact, Arcturus was rather surprised that he would meet someone from the House Luxford normally the members of the House Luxford were home-schooled, or if they went to the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy, they would be going to the standard course, not the Special Course Class.
Now that he thought it over, he realized that he had in his head a lot of information about the Bloodline Lineage Aristocratic Houses that was also drilled into him by Grandmaster Byrmellir because his master predicted that in the future, he would be dealing with a lot with the Imperial Arisotcracts and other Highborne.
So it was important to know a lot about the subject, not to make a scene or shame.
"Normally, the members of the House Luxford are sent to the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy when they reach the required age, but I was rather exception because I was born with Super-High Risk Psyker Ability that I couldn't properly control since I was born. Only when I obtained rudimentary control over the Psyker Ability I went to the Imperial Phoenix Military Academy, but due to the fact that I never received any formal education or so, I used the recommendation letter from the ancestor to get into the Special Course Class."
He understood the reason, and something was telling him that there was a lot more to the situation. If Arcturus had to bet, then he would say that she was here without the consent of her parents or so...