Raviel hadn't attended his classes since he last went to the innovative training dorms.

The overload training mode weighed heavily on his mind.

As soon as the session had ended, he had gone straight to the infirmary. The simulated world had taken a toll on his body — his head was a mess due to his poor sleeping habits, while his diet was another story, which consisted of chocolates and energy drinks rather than any real food.

Luckily, the head nurse had taken a look at his health and sighed. She gave him a five day leave without much argument and told him to rest properly this time.

And he did.

For three whole days, Raviel barely left his room, ate real meals for once and did nothing — absolutely nothing, aside from giving hate reviews to some novels in his free time and ragebaiting new players on a random game he had hopped-on, on his new console.

Somewhere in between, he even found Harry's number, through the dorm head of Sapphire rooms.

Then, on the fourth day came the message.

The sender's name alone made him pause his interesting choice of activities.

Jeanne.

The message was also direct.

[ I require your presence in my office within the next 15 minutes. ]

That was how he ended up here.

Now, Raviel sat quietly in Jeanne's office. The Nova headmistress herself, was leaning back in her chair, slowly spinning a pen between her fingers.

Her eyes were locked on the tablet in front of her, scrolling through something with full focus.

She hadn't uttered a single word since he entered.

Just told him to wait for fifteen minutes.

So Raviel waited.

And...waited.

'Tch. Woman you didn't let me finish my darn game.'

Outwardly, Raviel just showed a faint smile whenever she would lift her eyes.

He leaned back slightly and looked up, counting the star-like patterns embedded in the ceiling. One cluster. Then another. His face stayed calm, but his mind kept thinking, wondering what exactly she had called him in for.

'Where did she even get these things?'

The room stayed silent, as faint smoke rose up in the air.

Just as Raviel raised his hand —

Creak—!!!

The door suddenly opened.

Raviel lazily shifted his gaze, and the moment he saw who walked in, his eyes narrowed.

Ezio.

The black haired boy just stared blankly at jeanne. Just as his head shifted, translucent smoke drifted in the room, making his red eyes shimmer like polished red rubies.

'She's definitely planning something big...' Raviel thought inwardly as he watched both of them.

Soon, Raviel's violet eyes locked in with the red ones.

Breaking the silence, Raviel spoke first.

"Good to see you here, Rank 1."

....

Seeing both of them sitting patiently.

Jeanne finally placed the pen down on the desk.

Thuk—!!

The soft tap echoed in the quiet room.

She lifted her head and looked at both of them, her gaze was calm but heavy.

Raviel stopped his counting and Ezio straightened a little.

Breaking the silence, Jeanne spoke evenly. "You know, that you two are currently the most talked students in the academy."

Neither of them answered.

Jeanne continued, her tone firm now.

"Well, I'm calling you here because I'm going to give you both a mission."

Raviel just listened. He knew this was eventually going to come for him too, ever since he had seen his changed status, he knew that he was at the same tier as Ezio at this point in the story.

Even in the novel, Jeanne had choosen Ezio for a solo mission, but it was a bit later. In it Jeanne was also said to be a great teacher for Ezio.

Ezio spoke up, his voice calm.

"Is there a specific reason you chose us?"

Raviel stayed quiet but listened closely.

Jeanne didn't hesitate. "No special reason. You're simply the strongest in your batch, and I don't feel like waiting half a semester just to test you."

Raviel's eyes narrowed a bit. "And the reward?" he asked bluntly. He knew what she was going to say but still insisted.

Jeanne raised two fingers.

"First of all," she said, "I want both of you —"

Both their expressions stiffened for a second.

She chuckled lightly. "Relax. I want both of you as my disciples."

"And second," she added, "I'll give you enough autonomy to act inside and outside the academy. Of course, within certain boundaries."

Raviel leaned back on his chair. The offer was tempting — too tempting to be honest. Being the disciple of Jeanne meant that she could provide him with various benefits, to allow him to grow faster. Her teaching him, meant that he could also learn many things in which he was lacking, that too — Jeanne training them personally.

Surely the offer was tempting. But he still couldn't get excited over the short term benefits.

The reason, Raviel was worried, because Jeanne was closely affiliated with N.U.A, and being her disciple, meant that, he would certainly be forced to work with them, and this wasn't what he was looking for.

Raviel tilted his head and studied Ezio. 'Well the offer is certainly good for him.'

Another reason, that Raviel was stressed, because Ezio was a main clan's heir — his clan being the top among the five clans. For him it wouldn't matter as N.U.A would never try to triffle with matters regarding the Azathoth clan, and even if they did, the outcome would be something that neither of the sides would want.

Jeanne just watched both of the carefully.

"Take your time boys, you don't need to answer it right now."

Raviel just grabbed the armrest carefully and thought: he knew no matter how powerful his family was, they for a good reason could never compete with the main clans or N.U.A. Heck! he didn't even knew that — would they even want to take chances, as far as he knew his family hadn't even contacted him. For this reason he didn't want to take any risk.

Reading the data given to him by Fredrick, had already given him an idea, regarding his family's situation.

While Raviel was contemplating, Ezio spoke calmly. "Thank you for this offer, but I would like to take some time, to thoroughly think about it."

Jeanne just smiled. Then waved her hand brushing it aside.

"Well, we'll leave that discussion for later," she said calmly. "You'll be leaving for the mission today."

Raviel blinked, caught completely off guard. "Today?"

"The mission details will be briefed to you on the way," Jeanne added, completely unfazed.

Raviel frowned. "Then… when do we leave?"

Jeanne smiled, almost cheerfully. "In four hours."

Both Raviel and Ezio froze.

"Four hours?" Ezio repeated with a slightly faltered voice.

Jeanne leaned back in her chair, amused by their reactions. "Yes. Four hours."

She then clapped her hands once. "Now, what are you two waiting for? Don't you need to prepare for your sweet little travel?"

Raviel let out a slow breath. Ezio rubbed the back of his neck.

"Come back to my office," Jeanne continued, "three hours from now. Sharp."

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