NOVPUB
Chapter 50: Dean Rochester
The ride back to the administration building was silent, with Lisa and Hector wearing grim expressions. As both were second-generation espers, they were aware of the esper world from a young age and knew more about its depths than Kaizer or Rina.
They had heard of S-class espers, as these fellows were the ones who stood at the top of both the esper world and the real world, being the leaders of the S-rank factions or the top echelon, trained carefully from discovery to be the best of the best.
Even within the esper academies worldwide, S-class espers were super rare but not impossible. Every year there would be one or two, admitted specially to the Special Echelon for the most intense and favored training possible, their every action watched by all esper factions that would pay any price to recruit them.
And two of them were seated so close to them, and had in fact, become their acquaintances. Both Hector and Lisa had received endless favor and praise already for being B-rank espers who had the possibility of climbing to the A-rank if they developed themselves to the limit, both within their families and within the school.
But two S-class espers? They practically existed in a different time and space from them.
Hector and Lisa silently extinguished their thoughts of pursuing Rina, knowing that the kind of behemoths who would fight to procreate with this girl were existences that could destroy their families in a heartbeat.
Despite the silence in the car, Kaizer could hear everything clearly, especially the rapid thoughts of Hector and Lisa, who considered many things, revealing a lot of information for himself. It was most disjointed and based on the current circumstances, but Kaizer’s understanding of the esper world inadvertently deepened.
One thing he could glean was that a storm was about to develop between him and Rina, but that storm would only be a breeze for them and a cyclone for those close to them, as well as those interested in them, which was why Hector and Lisa were backing off, creating a subtle distance.
It didn’t matter whether Kaizer and Rina were nice people who would cherish their friends; what mattered was that those targeting them would ’cherish’ their friends even more.
The group rather quickly arrived at the admin building once more, with Rina and Kaizer disembarking to finish up their enrollment. To the siblings’ surprise, but not to Hector or Lisa, the front of the admin building was now occupied by a group of people of varying ages.
In the lead was a wizened old man who wore an English nobleman’s attire replete with a tophat, a tailed suit jacket, and a pair of black loafers. Beside him were men and women of different styles and demeanors, all of them seemingly waiting for something.
Hector and Lisa sucked in a deep breath but nudged the sibling duo to follow them. Immediately, Hector and Lisa came before the old man and bowed slightly in respect, greeting him.
"Good morning, Dean Rochester!"
Dean Rochester rubbed his chin with an intrigued smile. "Greetings, dear students. Since you two already know me, you must be long-time students of the academy, leaving the clueless duo behind you to be our most recent applicants, I take it?"
"Which one of you is Kaizer and which one is Rina?" the Dean further inquired, seeing that neither Kaizer nor Rina were inclined to chat with him, much to the fear and chagrin of Hector and Lisa, who were still respectfully bowed.
"Kaizer," Kaizer responded calmly.
"Rina," Rina answered lazily.
"Hoho, young man, you certainly have the air of crazy old Lunin from back in the day. I wonder how Gerald is doing?" Dean Rochester asked with a chuckle.
Rina blinked while Kaizer frowned and answered. "Grandpa? He died when I was 15 years old." n𝚘𝚟𝚙𝚞𝚋.𝚌o𝚖
Dean Rochester’s expression froze, and he seemed to be less jovial. "Another one gone... time is truly cruel."
"Anyway, you two are welcome here in the Esper Academy, especially with your high grading. Whether it is within the esper world or the academy, those with high gradings are treated better than those with lower gradings, not only due to their power but also due to their potential," Dean Rochester continued after shaking his head and dispelling his growing gloom.
"As such, as two prospective S-grade espers, I am here to let you know that you have been specially admitted to the Special Echelon class of the academy, as well as what that entails for your admission." Dean Rochester continued, flicking two items over to Kaizer and Rina.
Kaizer easily caught them with his telekinesis, bringing them into the hands of Rina and himself. He saw that there were laminated ID cards with their portraits on them, stating their name, their esper ranking, their class, and finally their date of admission.
"As of now, you are officially students of the Esper Academy and are entitled to everything that comes with it. However, before you head to the general orientation, I brought along some of the best instructors in the academy who wish to connect with you," Dean Rochester revealed as he stroked his beard.
There was a short period where he introduced each instructor by name and stated their esper ranking, usually at B-rank with a select few closer to the dean at the A-rank.
"As you can imagine, our S-class graduates have no intention of working as instructors, usually jumping right to the peak of the world after leaving us. Even these elites you see here were retained by us after paying a high price, so do not look down on them at all," Dean Rochester stated with a tap of his foot.
Immediately, Kaizer and Rina found themselves warped to a large conference room, along with everyone else who came along. While Kaizer and Rina marveled at the shift, the others seemed to find this completely normal.
"Now, dear students, please be seated and be ready for the orientation. I will leave the floor to the highest-ranking instructor here to explain the mechanics and maxims of our academy to you, and then the various instructors can make their offers," Dean Rochester instructed with a genial smile, which everyone complied with.
"As for myself, I have a lot of matters to attend to, so please forgive my hasty exit. Cheerio!" the Dean stated while lifting his tophat slightly, tapping his foot to disappear from view.
"Erhum. You already know who I am thanks to the dean’s introduction, but I also serve as one of the Deputy Deans of the Esper Academy Headquarters," a young woman coughed as she brought attention to herself.
She was a well-dressed lady with purple hair that coiled upwards like ice cream on a cone. She had two phoenix-shaped eyes with azure pupils, a small black beauty spot right below her right eye. Coupled with a button nose, dark red rosebud lips, and a soft chin, she was extremely beautiful in an exotic way.
She wore a green blouse that was pressed forward slightly, its neckline sealed by a ribbon that held an emerald brooch. Apart from a beige-colored skirt that reached right above her knee, she also wore an azure-colored cape that reached her lower back, and her feet were topped with dark purple high heels with sharp edges.
Currently, she crossed her legs in a lady-like manner and folded her arms below her impressive bust, her nose slightly raised as she glanced at the sibling duo. It was clear to Kaizer and Rina that she didn’t actually look down on them given the esper ability rank gap between them, but this was just her normal state.
"You can call me Madam Sylvia while in the academy. As the first agenda of your orientation, I will first explain to you a brief history of the school, then I will highlight our core rules and regulations you must follow. After that, I will explain the echelon system and where you fit into it with your admission to the special echelon. Finally, I will state the extracurricular activities present in our academy as well as any other thing to note."
Kaizer and Rina nodded casually to show they understood.
"Alright, the Esper Academy was created in 1200, a few years after the end of the Seventh Great Esper War, called the Third Crusade by the non-espers. It was initially constructed in Westminster for the ’mages’ as we were called in that era," Madam Sylvia began, her resonant voice quickly capturing the attention of the sibling duo.
"Since then, it has spread around the world slowly but surely to include almost every country and by the time of the Great Industrial Revolution, we had achieved a branch in the capital of every country worldwide. The headquarters was located in the Westminster branch up until the end of the Second World War, where it was moved to the then United States of America."
"The Esper Academy has admitted over 50 million espers across the centuries and seen more than 90% graduate successfully with above-average honors, meaning that they had gained at least 50% more power and skill in the usage of their esper ability compared to when they first enrolled."
