Everyone tried to prove their individual strength by hunting alone, even though they had their party with them. They chose ordinary monsters instead of hunting a Boss monster with the combined strength of the party. This was one of the aspects of the Dungeon Expedition: to see how well the students worked together and coordinated their hunting. However, everyone failed miserably simply because they wanted to show off their individual ranking.
Now, everyone lost the spotlight that they yearned for. All of the attention was centered on Anne and the party that placed first. Since Anne was also the leader of the party, this placed extra attention on her.
After lunch, Max went directly to his dorm. He planned to skip sword practice. Yesterday, he had gained some revelation regarding the Mana Channeling technique, so he planned to practice that technique until he became an expert at it. Then, he might try the other technique he read about early in the morning. Jumping here and there without mastering one technique would definitely put his growth in a stalemate. Thus, he should master one technique, which was an improvement of the previous technique, so it would help with the next best thing in the future.
In the Healing practical class, Jeannie was considered a celebrity since she ranked 29th. She was the only Healer in the top 30, and even in the top 100 ranking.
This was to be expected, since Healers were not considered a combat class. They solely relied on the party to share the Cores they collected. However, due to the intense competition, they were ignored by their parties and had to subsist on material drops. With no big authority in the party, they had no choice but to accept the deal.
Although they earned a lot from raw materials, their ranks were lower. Furthermore, as a Healer, generally no one expected them to be placed in a higher ranking. The only good thing discussed was how well their party treated them.
Upon entering the room, Max immediately felt a change in the students' gazes. He usually received very harsh looks, but today, something seemed different. There was less enmity in their eyes, and some kindness exuded from their looks. That was weird, but he could certainly take kindness rather than enmity.
Max also felt he knew the reason. Every Healer yearned for a better party that would take care of them and provide protection. Thus, because Max's party gave an equal share of the hunt to Jeannie, who did not contribute to the hunt, it made Max a better candidate in their eyes.
Max did not bother with them, as these kinds of reactions changed every other day. Today they felt Max was a good party member, and tomorrow they would curse him. Therefore, he should not take anything to heart; he had to maintain a neutral position to face anything.
He began his routine, which was the same practice as the other day. Unless one made the twig sprout, they had to try every day. He felt that if he tried hard today, he could achieve it, but he planned to improve the Mana Channeling technique since this was a good method.
While he was concentrating on channeling Mana into the twig via the Needle and Thread Technique, he suddenly noticed someone come near him. This had never happened. The spot he chose was beside the other two male Healers, and usually, no one came near them.
The girls usually stayed in their own spots. However, now someone came, but Max did not check who it was. He simply concentrated on the technique to improve how he could do it instinctively.
Surprisingly, the figure did not disturb him, and it did not go away either. It simply stood near him, waiting. Max took some time to concentrate, and once the Mana thread was reduced thin, he finally stopped.
He might have to wait for some time until Mana gathered in the pool. Meanwhile, he could check who the person was.
Turning around to his left, which was where the figure stood, Max saw a girl. Her face was puffed, and her hands were folded across her chest.
"Hello." Seeing that the girl did not speak as she simply stood looking at him, Max decided to greet her.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
"How can you say hello? I have been waiting for five minutes. I heard you were a gentleman, but now I see you let a lady stand here without speaking," she spoke in a disappointed tone.
Max was dumbfounded by her accusation. She had come and stood here of her own will, but now she was saying he did not speak; that was an unfair thing to say. He had seen the girl who stood in front of him a few times in class, but they had never made any conversation or even eye contact. Then why did she suddenly come here to speak to him?
"Sorry, I was in full concentration on my practice. I did not know you were here." Max smoothly lied, blaming the matter on his practice.
"How can I help you?" Max asked after apologizing to her.
"Nothing, I just came to tell you to let me join your party next time," the girl said with a shy tone.
"Oh, sure. No problem." Max looked around. A group was staring at them, laughing among themselves.
"Okay, I will see you around. My name is Kristen," she said.
"Nice to meet you, Kristen. I am Max," he introduced himself.
After that, she walked to her spot, while her friends snickered looking at Max.
Max shook his head inwardly as he continued to practice Mana Channeling. Max spent half the afternoon in the Healing Hall, and then he went to the archery practice ground. There, he met Moon, who was in a sour mood because her ranking was not to her liking.
"So, are you participating in the First-Year Leaders competition? Now that the ranking was released, people know who was capable and who wasn't. There will be voting to choose a leader to represent the first years," Moon asked whether Max desired to become the leader.
"I don't know. What is the benefit of becoming a leader, except for paperwork and extra responsibilities?" Max did not reject the question.
He did not remember any mention of a leader's tasks on the inauguration form. So, he might need to check what was in it for him; if he found anything interesting, he could try to participate.
"Not much, just the honor to represent the Academy. You have authority over the first-year students. You could take major decisions to coordinate on dungeon dives and other major options," Moon said.
"I don't know; it seems like a lot of work and less personal benefit." Max thought for a second.
If he were an ordinary person, he could vie for these things. But as the only heir of Grand Duke Malcolm, these things were nothing but extra work to become famous. However, if he were to become the Student Council Head, his family would definitely be happy, especially his father.
But with his three Class Skills, he needed extra time to improve them. If he were to become the head, that would take a lot of time. So, he decided to skip the participation.
"Well, people's opinions differ from yours. Representing the No. 1 Academy in the kingdom certainly has its own benefits, particularly on the political side. Considering where you are from, it will immensely help to gain a lot of contact with people from the King's side," Moon said.
"Moon, what is your family name?" Max asked. He knew her first name, but not her family name. Now, seeing that she talked a lot about politics, he wanted to know which family she represented.
"What, you don't know my family name?" Moon was surprised by Max's question.
"How come you do not know my full name?" Suddenly, her face changed as rage burned upon it.
"Well, you did not introduce yourself. I just know your first name," Max quickly explained before she could become more angry.
"What are you talking about? I already introduced myself. You simply forgot it." She was still in the same mood.
"Where did you introduce yourself? You barely spoke to me these last two days." Max was flabbergasted by her claim. When did she introduce herself? As far as he could remember, she was not even ready to speak to him.
"Not now, but when we met the last time," she said.
"You mean two days before?"
"Two days before... hey, did you forget who I am?" Moon started to fume with anger.
Max went silent. What kind of situation had he caught himself in? He had met this girl two days before, though he had seen her a few times here and there, such as in the canteen and the archery ground. Only two days before had she spoken to him. Now, she was asking if he forgot who she was? But really, who the hell was she? He did not know.
"Hey, let me be honest here. I cannot recall our last meeting. I can only remember our conversation from two days before." Max admitted that he did not remember their last meeting.
"So you really do not remember?"
"Yes."
"Okay, that is understandable since we last met when we were ten years old. You attended one of my family's marriages. So, it has been five years since the time I introduced myself to you," Moon said. "I waited for a very long time for you to come talk to me this last one and a half months, but you never did," she continued.
Max was shellshocked after hearing this story. She expected him to remember her just from one meeting they had at ten years old. How was that a reasonable thing? Though he could remember he had attended a lot of functions in his childhood where his grandmother and father took him, he did not remember a single person since he might have met a ton of people. Furthermore, it had been a long time since then.
However, thinking back, while he might have met a lot of people and forgotten, she might have met few people, remembered that meeting, and expected him to speak. Even though it was a very cruel thing to expect, it was understandable.