Apart from a few cases, Noah was yet to fully leverage the data received from the Time Journal. The main reason was that the events were mostly related to the Corporations and their affiliations. Noah was still in academia and yet to know such people. It was by chance that he could meet Solomon or Kane.

However, out of the few cases that Noah could fully utilize, this was the one. On Dec 15, 2081, that is 4 years later, a student will invoke the clause, Section 5 of Act XIV of the Academy Rulebook. There is a prerequisite for requesting the clause though, in the first place.

Noah carefully thought and planned it. He set his target for this year’s examination.

“Why are the students obstructing the continuation of this year’s ceremony one after another? But what is this Section 5 of Act XIV, I can’t recall. Is there even something like that?” Prof. Sawyer kept wondering.

As none of the Examiners or Professors had any clue, everyone was looking at each other. The students were gazing at the clueless Professors.

“Ho ho...Section 5 of Act XIV, that is something I haven’t heard in a long time. Someone get me the Academy RuleBook, please. It will be better to read it from there!” Principal Beck stated.

The Academy RuleBook was something that the academy maintained in hard copy. A big binding book was brought to the podium in a hurry and handed over to Prof. Sawyer to read. She quickly flipped through the pages of the book to reach the desired page and started reading loudly.

Section 5 of Act XIV states that - Given that a student has passed all subjects in Aptitude and Field Assignment, if and only if that student has received S+ in Battle Simulation and created a gap of more than 15% with the subsequent student, then that student has a talent which surpasses students of the same class and is eligible to select any opponent from the adjacent upper class irrespective of their rank for the Promotion Battle.

Prof. Sawyer stopped reading and looked at Noah. She was wondering how Noah knew something even they were unaware of. This Clause has never been invoked in the history of RedRock Academy.

“Professor, could you please continue with the next part?” Noah asked with a smile on his face.

Prof. Sawyer was still confused.

“Professor?” Noah asked again.

Prof. Sawyer looked at the clause again. There was certainly another part left. She continued -

If the student chooses among the Top 3 seeds of the adjacent upper class, then a loss will revert the student to the origin class, however, a win would guarantee a replacement with that seed in the Promotion battle with its adjacent upper class.

Prof. Sawyer checked thoroughly this time if she missed anything.

“Thank you Professor...” smiled Noah.

“What does this mean? This is so complicated. Who will Noah face now?” All other students started to gossip among themselves. Melv was cluelessly scratching his head all this time.

“Let me tell everyone in simple words then...” Principal Beck started speaking.

“As per examination results, Noah is the Current Top Seed in Delta Class. He has also received an S+ grade and the difference with the second in class is more than 15%. So keeping the gap between the two in mind, Noah is eligible to invoke this clause that has never been invoked by anyone in our academy’s history. Now then, Noah can choose anyone as an opponent from the Gamma Class for the Promotion battle. If he loses, he goes back to Delta Class. But if he wins against anyone from the Top 3 Seeds, he will take their place and fight the last 3 Seeds of the Beta Class in the Promotion Battle.”

“So he can get a double promotion if he wins 2 consecutive Promotion Battles?” a voice sounded amongst the students.

“Yes. Exactly. If he wins, surely he will be the first one in our Academy to receive a double promotion...” Principal Beck confirmed.

The students and professors started to discuss among each other. No one was aware such a thing existed. But how did Noah know something as such was the question in their minds. Everyone forgot the most important question right now. Their discussions went silent as a voice sounded.

“So whom do you choose as your opponent for the Promotion Battle?” Beck asked Noah.

“The Top 3 in Gamma class are not to be taken lightly. Who will Noah choose? It must be No. 3, who else do you think?” The students got a new topic to discuss now. But Noah was still not answering. He was smiling to himself. He was smiling at his fate.

“Noah?” asked Principal Beck again.

“Yes, Principal.”

“Who will be your opponent?”

“Ahm...I want to challenge…”

Every student was patiently waiting for the name. It was as if they were gonna burst in anticipation. “Come on. Say it already”, they shouted.

“I challenge Gamma Class No. 2, Daimonjji.” There was a silence that followed the declaration.

“Well enough, we will set up the Promotion matches after discussing with all the Professors. The matches will start after a gap of 3 days after all the challengers are decided.”

That concluded the proceedings for the day. Everyone went home after a tough day at the academy. The Principal while leaving the podium looked at Noah and gave a smile of delight.

For years, he has presided over this Academy but has never been entertained to this state. The day started with immense thrill and ended with spectacular theatrics. At the entrance, he met Solomon who was relishing the events that unfolded at the Arena.

“Solomon, join me for a cup of tea. Today I want to have my special Honey-Cardamom Tea.”

“Seems like you are quite the happy old man for you to drink your special tea. Hahaha.”

The Odling family left the Arena as soon as things wind up. Kaisha left the Arena quietly after the announcements.The students and professors left as well. Noah received a word from Prof. Sawyer while she was leaving. She congratulated Noah and was quite happy with his performance.

“Fried Chicken, here we come. Hee hee.” Melv’s eyes gleamed while thinking of food. Noah shook his head to Melv’s words. As they were leaving the Arena, someone was waiting for them at the entrance.

“Hey pervy champ!” a voice spoke out.

Noah could easily identify this person to be Angelika. Melv was amused to see his goddess.

“Hey, Angelika. Were you watching our match?”

“Of course. You dummy. I had to see how much you improved and also the bet..”

“Ah...so you came because of the bet.”

“What bet?” Melv cut them in between.

“Ohh it's just that she will buy me dinner now that I have topped Delta Class.”

“A date. You are going on a date with the Goddess?” Melv’s eyes widened.

“No no, it's nothing like that. Angelika was just..” Noah could not finish his words as he saw Angelika leave in a hurry.

“See you made her angry now. She becomes a devil when she is angry.” Noah scolded Melv.

But in actuality, Angelika blushed like a red rose on hearing the word “date”. She had buried her feelings for Noah deep down, but sometimes they just float upwards to the surface. To hide them from being revealed, she left their presence. She hid herself in one corner of the next wall away from Noah’s vision and started panting.

“Calm down Angelika. Calm down...” she told herself.

On the other hand, Noah went after Angelika, to check on her. Though Noah was wary of Angelika’s anger, he had to clear up any misunderstandings from causing him despair again.

But Noah was halted by a Professor in the alley. The Professor asked him to report to the Principal who was waiting for him in his chambers.

Noah couldn’t find Angelika nearby, so he went to the Principal’s office.

“Knock Knock...May I come in Sir!” Noah knocked on the door.

“You may come in...” a voice sounded from within the office.

Every time Noah came to the Principal’s office, he was mesmerized by the exquisite design of the room. Noah quickly analyzed the room though. Apart from the Principal, there was one other person in the room sitting in front of the Principal. Noah could not identify him from the backside.

“There you are. Come here and sit. Would you like some of my favorite tea?” Principal asked.

“I have a guest today. He wants to talk to the star of the day.”

“Hello Noah. We meet again...” as the person turned towards Noah, he could identify him as Solomon Glass. Noah was surprised to see him here. Also, the last time they met was in the Black Market Underground Battle Arena.

“Is he here to report on me? But he was not that kind of a person.” Noah thought to himself.

As Noah came near the chair to sit down, Solomon whispered. “Don’t worry about that day.”

“So you two know each other? How did that happen?” Principal Beck was surprised.

“Well we happened to bump into each other sometime back.”

“Oh really. What are the chances of bumping into a Corp Top official?”

“Anyways. Congratulations on your Ranking Noah. You showed an excellent performance today.” Solomon changed the topic.

“But I do have a question. If I read the expressions correctly, they were clueless about the clause you invoked. How did you know something as ancient as the Principal?”

The Principal was sipping his tea. He showed a bit of dissatisfaction at him being called old every time by Solomon.

“Ahm. That actually. Someone told me.” Noah could not reveal about the Time Journal. He was trying to think of a fake source to make everyone believe. He knew he would have to do that eventually but not so fast. Seeing the dilemma in the face of Noah, the Principal responded.

“Ahh. So it's that mutual friend of ours. He is very knowledgeable.”

“Yes. Yes.” Noah quickly asserted that the Principal has given him the perfect fake source.

“Mutual friend?” Solomon was intrigued.

“Well, that's our trade secret. Nothing for you to know.” Principal replied. But Solomon was not one to back down easily. He changed questions but the Principal blocked him every time.

“Leave that. We need to discuss the main purpose of calling Noah.”

“Ah yes yes. Noah, as you know, I asked you to stay at the academy dorm to keep you safe from the assassins that targeted you. Mr. Solomon Glass has provided a solution for you.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. As you know guns are prohibited inside city walls by law. We received news that the Masked Jackals were smuggling guns and ammo. So last night there was a covert operation and we eliminated all the members and affiliates of the Masked Jackals, who were also hired to assassinate you. Following this, the kill order for you on the Darknet was reverted. That means you are not being targeted anymore. You are free to go anywhere you wish.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Solomon and Principal Beck.” Noah thanked them for their actions.

“Haha. It's fine lad. You can leave the academy dorm if you wish. But keep the gym card. It's yours from now. You can come any time.”

“Thank you again, Principal. Umm. Mr. Solomon, please let me know if I can be of help to you in any way.”

“First of all, don’t forget our last discussion. I mean that. Secondly, there is actually something I need help with. Are you interested in becoming an adventurer?”

An Adventurer is an occupation taken up by many EVOs. They venture out in the wilderness to hunt for beasts, fetch beast cores or medicinal herbs and even eliminate mercenaries or robbers. The basic requirement is to be aligned with a GUILD so that one can take up a mission request. The guild will decide on a party for the quest. Any EVO can join the Adventurers by passing the entrance test, upon which they will be given a rank. The rank increases as the fame and reputation increases and hence the rewards as well.

Most people who do not get chosen by the Corps after the Academics, opt for the Adventurer Guilds. But there are also such strong characters who want to keep their freedom and pursue their own goals by being with the guilds.

Noah had always thought of registering in a guild after the academics. It was a step in achieving his main goal by gaining some actual battle experience. “Yes”, said Noah without hesitation.

“Good then. I need you to do something for me. Join a guild and rank up to Gold in the next 6 months. Then I will contact you for the job. Hope the Principal will give him some time off. The thing he has to do will benefit humanity.” The Principal did not understand fully but approved.

“Six months. I need to train more.” Noah set his eyes on a new goal, the Adventurer Guild.

...