SYSTEM ASCENSION

The door swung wide, enough to draw every gaze in the room before a word was spoken. Elias and Kael stepped in beside the student council president.

Claude didn’t head for his seat immediately. He stopped just short of the long table, hands loosely in his pockets.

Elias stood slightly behind him. He gazed around. Just... uninterested.

”Everyone,” the president said.

A few members straightened. Others only shifted their eyes, clearly unimpressed. Eight of them.

”We have new additions.”

His eyes shifted.

The roommate introduced himself. ”Kael Winger.”

Eyes popped open.

”Winger?”

”They are the top two in Salvador empire.”

”Welcome to the council.”

Only one pair of eyes lingered on Elias. ”So tall...”

”And Elias Morail.” Claude added, when he saw that Elias made no attempt to utter a word.

Silence descended for a short while.

”Morail?”

”What’s that?”

”You’re so tall! Can I hang on your leg?!” The voice was Tiana’s.

A girl near the center, let her gaze linger a second too long before her lips curved faintly. ”The C ranker drawing all the attention.”

”Looks like it,” someone else replied, not bothering to lower their voice.

A boy leaned back in his chair, exhaling through his nose. ”C-rank?” he echoed, like he’d misheard something insulting.

”Special admission?” another added. ”You mean charity.”

A quiet ripple of amusement followed.

Elias said nothing. Didn’t even bother looking at whoever spoke, which, somehow, made it worse.

The elegant girl tilted her head slightly, studying him now with open curiosity. ”Scholarship student? Ah. That explains the silence.”

”Or the lack of manners,” someone muttered.

A few laughed. Claude exhaled quietly, almost like he was letting them get it out of their system.

”He’ll be joining the student council.”

That cut through everything. The laughter died.

”What?” the boy who’d leaned back earlier straightened, brows pulling together. ”You’re serious?”

A sharper voice followed, edged with disbelief. ”You’re placing a C-rank...here?”

”This isn’t a training hall,” another added. ”There are standards.”

”I like him!” Tiana beamed.

Elias finally shifted his gaze to them, taking them in like he was memorizing nothing worth keeping.

The elegant girl noticed and she glared. ”You don’t seem very grateful,”

”I’m not.” He blurted out.

Eyes turned, not at Elias, but at the president, but Claude just smiled faintly.

”You think you’re too good for it?!” She was getting agitated.

Elias met her gaze again.

”Yes,” he said simply. ”I just don’t think it’s anything special.”

That did it. The temperature dropped.

A boy at the end of the table smiled faintly, but there was no humor in it. ”Do you know who sits in this room?”

Elias didn’t answer nor regard him.

He let out a dry laugh. ”Of course you didn’t. People like you never do. You just—”

”That’s enough.”

Claude cut in clean.

The room stilled instantly.

”You seem to be under a misunderstanding,” he said. ”This isn’t a discussion. He’s not here because of your approval. He’s here because he is needed, so you will fix your tones. Or you will find yourselves removed from this council, and if necessary...”

His gaze sharpened.

”...from this academy.”

Silence. No one laughed now.

The message was clear.

Kael took his seat.

The president straightened, the tension dissolving from him as easily as it had appeared. ”Now that that’s understood...”

He gestured lazily toward the empty seat at the far end of the table.

”Elias. Your seat.”

All eyes returned to him,

Elias looked at the chair. He moved, walked to the seat, pulled it out, and sat down.

Tiana immediately hopped down from her seat, and ran to the empty seat beside him. It took quite a lot of effort for her small frame to climb the high chair, but nevertheless, she settled on it.

Then, she leaned sideways, rested on his thigh, and stared up at him.

”I’m Tiana! I love you!”

He gazed down at her. She smiled wider.

”Tiana,” a voice that hadn’t spoken from the start, finally spoke. ”Stop that.”

Tiana pouted her lip, but pulled back.

The lady stood up and addressed Elias.

”Welcome to the student council. I am Fayera, the vice president. If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask me.”

He nodded.

”Alright!” Claude clapped and took a seat. ”We have a case to settle. Let’s begin.”

The meeting started like Elias didn’t exist, which suited him just fine.

”...attendance from the Northern sectors will double this year,” one of the members was saying, fingers gliding across a glowing panel hovering above the table. ”If we don’t tighten screening, we’ll have outsiders slipping through the—”

”Then tighten it,” the elegant girl cut in, chin resting lightly against her hand. ”Or are we lowering standards across the board now?”

A few quiet chuckles.

Elias sat at the far end of the table, exactly where they’d placed him.

He leaned back, closed his eyes, and slept.

His breath evened out, and shoulder relaxed. Head tilted just enough to make it obvious.

It took a moment for anyone to notice.

”...Is he serious?” someone muttered.

The boy near the center frowned, tapping his fingers against the table. ”He’s asleep.”

”No,” another said flatly. ”He’s mocking us.”

”He’s handsome!” Tiana yelled.

The elegant girl’s gaze slid toward him. ”In the middle of a council meeting?”

The irritation built quietly. No one wanted to be the first to address it, because acknowledging him felt like lowering themselves.

So they kept going.

”...As I was saying,” one of them continued, tone tighter now, ”the guest list needs to be finalized before—”

He took a deep breath.

Someone clicked their tongue and another shifted in their seat.

The boy leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing. ”President, are we just going to...”

”Continue.” Claude ordered.

Somehow, that made it worse.

They continued the meeting. Through glances that kept drifting unwillingly toward the boy sleeping at the end of their table like none of this mattered.

___

By the time the meeting ended, the tension hadn’t gone anywhere.

”Meeting adjourned,” Claude said simply, closing the session.

They shifted chairs and gathered papers.

”Before you leave,” the president added, precisely to the elegant girl. ”You’ll take Elias and Kael to the tailor. Get their council uniforms made.”

”What?” the question slipped out before she could stop it. ”I’m not—” she started, then caught herself, exhaling through her nose. ”You can’t be serious.”

”I am serious.”

”Then assign someone else.”

”No.”

Her expression tightened. ”You expect me to escort,” her gaze snapped to Elias, still unmoving. ”Him? A nobody who can’t even stay awake during a council meeting?”

She laughed.

”Unbelievable.”

She stepped away from her seat, heels clicking sharply against the floor as she crossed the room, straight toward him.

He didn’t acknowledge her presence even when she stopped right in front of him. She yanked Tiana off him.

”Get up. Now”