The Academy's Time Looper-Chapter 38: Invitation
Noticing Athen’s gaze, Kai also glanced upward at the loft, making eye contact and nodding his head.
Kai had to be powerful, right...? He was one of the top 10 ranked students in the academy.
However, worries about passing the entrance exam weren’t on Athen’s mind at the moment.
Climbing down from the loft, Athen asked while facing away from Kai.
"Hey, you met that white-haired girl, Delphi, at the academy dinner, right?"
How had she known his name was Athen?
Taking off his shoes and getting comfortable on the couch, Kai hesitated before grinning and saying.
"If this is for payment, I can try to get you a date with h-"
Jumping off the ladder, Athen immediately responded. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
"Yeah, and that Alice girl seems to like you as well. Maybe I should confess to her while I’m Kai?"
Instantly, a nervous expression appeared on Kai’s face as his eyebrows twitched.
Walking towards Kai, Athen suddenly paused and asked.
"Speaking of family...what happens if yours come to visit? Or, what if someone who knows your face comes? Won’t our ruse be up then?"
"...?"
With a confused expression that showed he had never even considered the possibility, Kai stared at Athen for a couple of seconds before finally answering.
"You know, you really should read the Aetherhelm rulebook. No visitor, no matter status or donation size, is allowed to step foot onto the first-year portion of the campus."
Sitting down on an armchair across from Kai, Athen thought for a moment and replied.
"What if we go off campus, though? Or, go to the second-year and third-year areas."
Expecting the question, Kai immediately responded.
"Recruiters are the only visitors allowed to go on third and second-year campuses, and they can only come for small portions of time, so we can just avoid them."
"And...for going off campus, we’ll just have to go in disguise in case someone I or my parents know is visiting the capital."
Athen, with most of his concerns answered, was about to grab a snack from the kitchen when he suddenly remembered his original question.
Yet, his mouth remained closed as he sat down on the chair and stared at Kai.
Why would Kai know why Delphi knew his real name?
And...was that her dead body he saw his third body possession?
Seeing Kai expectantly staring at him, Athen sighed and asked.
"About the entrance exam; are you confident in passing it?"
Of course, for their ruse to continue working, both of them would have to pass the academy entrance exam and officially become a student.
Stretching out his hands and cracking his knuckles, Kai nodded his head and responded.
"Since I’m you, the professors will underestimate me, so I’ll be able to get one of their approvals without much trouble. And for the artificial space, I’ll just run and hide somewhere to pass."
So...Kai should be able to pass easily, as expected of a top ten ranked student.
Sensing Athen’s concern and seeing his leg fidgeting, Kai hesitated and asked.
"And, how about you? Since you’re me, a top-ranked student, the professors will probably be more expectant and make the test harder to satisfy their curiosity about the strongest students."
It might take some time, but Athen was sure he could find a professor’s test that he could cheese with his time-stopping ability.
Although the academy had graciously given the students two weeks to gain a professor’s approval, Athen was still somewhat concerned about time.
Since he couldn’t use his time-stopping ability for the first three days, as he had to wait for the cooldown plus some extra time to be safe, all the easy professor tests would be discovered by others.
By the time Athen was ready, his options would most likely be limited, as all the easy professors would have been swarmed and run out of approval letters to give.
As for the second portion of the exam, Athen was planning to do the same thing as Kai and just hide somewhere to avoid being killed.
However, unlike Kai, who was genuinely powerful and strong, Athen had a reason for running away.
Sure, if worse came to worse, he could take out one person with his time-stopping ability...but what about the other 200 hundred students?
And, it was also possible that Athen wouldn’t have access to his time-stopping ability.
If he was selected tomorrow, the day after, or the days following his test with the professor, the cooldown would be on.
That’s why, as Athen looked back at Kai, a smile appeared on his face.
It was time for Kai...to make him famous!
"Hey Kai, I think you’re gonna win your group’s artificial environment."
"...I am?"
"Well, Athen is, but you know what I mean."
Sighing, Kai nodded his head and responded.
"I’ll try, but if some other top-ranked students are in my group, it won’t be guaranteed."
*Knock~knock*
*Knock~knock*
As Athen gave Kai a thumbs up, the sound of someone banging on their wooden sounded throughout the room.
Gesturing for Kai to lean downwards and hide, Athen promptly opened the door with an amicable expression.
However, no one was there.
After looking around for a moment, he saw a piece of paper that hadn’t been there before lying right in front of their door.
[First-Year Banquet (Optional)]
Picking up the pamphlet, Athen briefly skimmed through it before putting it on the table before Kai.
It seemed that the academy had decided to host an optional dinner event for all first-year students today.
The two boys, not even looking at each other, both said in unison after reading the paper.
"Nope."
Staring out the large window to his right, Athen was reminded by the light blue sky that it was still early in the day.
Honestly, there was not much he could do today to prep himself, so it was just a free day.
Athen did plan on increasing his speed so that he could maximize his time in the frozen world when he used his ability, but that could come later.
"Got any plans?"
