Conquering The Novel

Click--

Ares pushed open the door to the meeting room, and all eyes of the student present instantly turned to him. And Erina who seemed to have been explaining something to everyone halted in her sentence and turned toward the door that was just pushed open.

!?

"A-Ares?" Erina said followed by Diana, Ayla, and Ziona, their jaws dropped in unison as they took in Ares' imposing figure. The other students in the room also looked shocked at his transformation in just a few days.

He seems somewhat taller, more handsome, and even stronger than before.

"Sorry, I'm late," Ares said with a small smile as he removed the cap he was wearing.

Lucas, Claude, and Kevin exchanged uneasy glances, feeling somewhat intimidated by Ares' presence. It was as if they were standing before a high-ranking hero or adventurer.

As Ares walked to the center seat, the room fell silent. Everyone present couldn't help but wonder, 'How he had grown so much stronger in such a short time?'

"Ha--haha, our representative is here! We're going to win this tournament for sure!" one of the students exclaimed excitedly as Ares entered the meeting room.

The other students nodded in agreement, their eyes fixed on Ares's imposing figure. He looked even more powerful and as confident as before.

Just from his mere appearance, they felt relieved and their anxiety and fear about not being able to perform well faded. As students of the famous Soreh Academy, everyone has high expectations of them.

Ares just gave them a reassuring smile, but his mind was elsewhere.

"Anyway, is Livia not with you?" Ayla suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "She didn't arrive with us, saying she would wait for your return."

Ares was just about to respond when they all heard Livia's voice from the chair in the corner of the room.

"What do you need from me, fragile potato?" Livia asked, and began munching on the chips.

!?

Ayla jumped, startled by the sudden sound. "Ah, Livia, you surprised me," she said, also annoyed by Livia's comment.

Most of the students were taken aback by Livia's sudden appearance, and they looked at her with a mix of surprise and confusion. But Lucas, Claude, Erina, and Ziona weren't surprised at all. They had sensed her presence from the moment she arrived.

"...."

However, as Claude caught sight of Livia, an unusual small smile appeared on his face.

Kevin, who noticed Claude's expression, decided to tease him. "I never knew you were interested in those chips, Claude. Here, I have the same one that Livia's eating," Kevin spoke aloud, grabbing everyone's attention as he took out a bag of chips from his storage ring and passed it toward Claude.

!!

Claude's smile immediately disappeared upon hearing Kevin's words, and he stared at Kevin with a blank expression for a moment before shifting his gaze to the packet of chips.

"...Thank you," he said hesitantly as he took the chips, aware of everyone's gazes upon him.

Clap-- Clap--

"Alright everyone, now that we have already finished discussing the tournament rules and our representative is also finally here, let's begin strategizing on how we can win the tournament," Erina said, clapping her hands to gather everyone's attention.

"Right, we need to plan our teams and coordinate our efforts," Ayla added.

Everyone nodded in agreement as they prepared to discuss their strategies.

"I'm assuming you've already read the instructions too, Ares," Erina said, turning towards him.

"Don't worry, I have," Ares replied with a smile.

"Then, as you already know, we can't win this tournament with you alone being strong. So, we'll need to split up into teams for each match. Here's what I'm thinking," Erina continued, but was interrupted by Livia.

"I'm not worried about winning," Livia said, still munching on her chips, "With Ares and me, we can take on anyone." Her expression was that of irritation.

Erina interjected, "Actually, there are restrictions on how many matches a single student can participate in, so we can't rely on just one or two people to win."

Livia didn't respond and turned her head away, creating a brief moment of silence in the room. It was apparent to everyone that she was acting out of jealousy since she wasn't the Vice representative and couldn't be by Ares' side.

As Livia's feelings towards Ares were already a well-known topic throughout the academy.

"...."

"...We'll have to wait and see what kind of matches we'll be facing, as they are randomly allotted. Once we know more information, we can decide on our strategy," Ares spoke up breaking the silence and getting back everyone's attention.

"Yes, that's ...a good idea. Let's focus on gathering information about the matches, and then we can decide on our teams," Erina nodded in agreement, with an awkward smile. She had hoped Ares might have more information about the types of matches they would be facing, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

"I thought they sent the details about the different matches to the representative," she pondered.

"Erina, is that the new uniform you're wearing? It looks great on you," Ares suddenly complimented her with a warm smile, drawing the attention of every student in the room.

!!

As they never heard Ares compliment a girl before, they all began to speculate: "Don't tell me he's interested in Erina?" Everyone seemed to be interested in Ares' love life, and there were even many famous social media pages shipping him with many female students, including Livia, Diana, and Silvia, among others.

"T-Thanks, Ares. I just got it an hour ago. Have you not received your representative uniform yet?" Erina asked, even though she was surprised to hear a sudden compliment from him.

"No, not yet. The management woman took my measurements earlier and said she would send it soon," Ares replied.

However, he could feel a sudden chill in the room, knowing the source of it. He eventually decided to ignore it, for now, shaking his head inwardly.

'I just hope Livia won't ruin my plans,' He mused.

Erina checked her pocket watch and muttered under her breath as she saw the time. "The ceremony starts in fifteen minutes. I hope your uniform arrives in time," she said with a hint of concern in her voice.

...

As they waited for the ceremony to begin, Diana brought up a new topic of discussion. "Hey, have you guys prepared for the interviews? I heard they will be broadcasted all around the world," she asked with excitement.

Ziona responded nonchalantly, "I don't think it's that big of a deal. They'll probably just ask some dumb questions to stir up drama with the other academies."

Ayla chimed in, "That may be true, but it's still important to be careful not to offend anyone in your interviews. We don't want to make unnecessary enemies and make them team up against us, do we?"

Erina nodded in agreement, "Don't worry, I've prepared for my interview and I'll keep your advice in mind. Thanks for the heads up, Ayla." She smiled, feeling confident about the upcoming interview.

'It seems like they've gotten close while I was away,' Ares thought to himself, observing Erina's reaction toward Ayla. 'Perhaps she was swayed by Ayla's appearance as well,' he continued to ponder.

"You're prepared for the interview as well, right Ares?" Erina asked.

"Prepared? Ah, yeah I'm fully prepared," Ares replied with a smile, but he couldn't help but inwardly chuckle at Erina taking Ayla's words so seriously.

Ayla was probably just trying to make a good impression, but she knew as well as Ares did that no matter how hard they tried not to offend anyone, every academy would inevitably try to team up against them anyway.

As the saying goes, "The strongest bonds are formed against a common enemy."

And for the other academies, the Soreh academy was the ultimate enemy, with its reputation as the top academy in the world. They would stop at nothing to eliminate us from the competition, even if it meant teaming up against us.

Ares had seen it happen before, in the novel that chronicled the fall and rise of the Soreh academy during the academy arc.

Despite Lucas's hard work and dedication, the other academies had successfully worked together to bring down the Soreh academy, which was eventually dethroned from its position as the number one academy in the world. A lack of teamwork among the students of Soreh academy had also played a part in their defeat in the deciding match.

Ares couldn't let that happen again. He knew that the other academies will be gunning for them, and he had to make sure that he was prepared for whatever they had in store.

He was determined to do everything in his power to ensure that the Soreh academy emerged victorious, even if it meant being strategic and manipulative.

Knock-- knock--

Everyone suddenly heard a knock on the door gathering their attention.

"Student Ares, your uniform is here."

They heard a female voice from outside the door.