Chapter 33: Finally, An Upgrade!
Even Ethan himself was stunned.
No... stunned wasn’t even enough to describe what he was feeling right now.
Just moments ago, he hadn’t even been certain that Aster’s cultivation method had worked at all. Throughout the entire walk to the evaluation room, he had been mentally preparing himself for the worst. At best, he had expected to crawl his way up to E Rank if fate happened to pity him for once.
But a D Rank?
That was completely beyond anything he had imagined.
Saint Aster’s book was really the real deal.
Suppressing the excitement threatening to burst out of him, Ethan slowly turned toward the administrators seated around the long table. Their expressions mirrored his own disbelief almost perfectly, although for entirely different reasons.
Good.
Keep looking shocked.
Because he certainly intended to look just as shocked as they were.
First, because he genuinely was shocked. Second, because the more confused he appeared, the harder it would be for them to suspect he had done something suspicious. The last thing Ethan wanted was for a group of academy officials to suddenly start keeping tails on him. Smiling awkwardly at the equally stunned expressions staring back at him, he scratched the back of his head.
"Even I don’t know how I ranked up," he admitted honestly before grinning. "But hey... at least I’m not getting expelled anymore, and I’m officially a D-Class Guide now, right?"
No one answered him.
Instead, the administrators simply exchanged one glance after another. Shock gradually gave way to suspicion.
That annoyed Ethan far more than he cared to admit.
Seriously?
Wasn’t this supposed to be good news?
Shouldn’t they at least be a little happy that a student had somehow ranked up instead of looking like he had committed a crime?
Or...
Had they truly wanted him expelled from the very beginning?
Well...
Too bad. He wasn’t going anywhere.
The heavy silence inside the room was finally interrupted when Principal Ronan cleared his throat. "That will be all for today. Congrats Ethan."
Whatever the man was feeling inside remained completely hidden behind his calm expression. Still, Ethan wasn’t fooled for even a second.
This old fox was cunning.
Very cunning.
And definitely not someone he could trust.
Ethan simply smiled back.
When Principal Ronan gestured for him to follow, Ethan silently obeyed.
The moment they stepped outside the administrative office, Ronan suddenly stopped walking.
"Ethan."
His voice had become noticeably more serious. "What exactly did you do?"
Ethan blinked innocently.
"...Sir?"
"You cannot fool me." Ronan slowly turned around to face him. "I personally witnessed your awakening less than months ago. You were undoubtedly an F Rank Guide."
His sharp eyes narrowed. "And now, without warning, you’re suddenly a D-Rank.Something happened.There is no possibility that nothing happened. You must have done something."
Oh...
So the old fox had already started suspecting him. Still, Ethan kept his expression perfectly calm.
"Well," he replied with an innocent shrug, "if I actually knew something, do you really think I would’ve behaved the way I did?"
He pointed at himself.
"Look at me. In what way would I have been able to secretly increase my rank? You saw how panicked I was while we were walking to the administrative office, and you also saw how shocked I became after finding out my result."
He spread both hands helplessly.
"If I’d really done something myself, or knew I had ranked up beforehand, would I have panicked? Would I have looked so surprised?"
He smiled helplessly.
"The answer is no."
"So, with all due respect, Principal... I honestly don’t know what miracle happened either."
Principal Ronan continued staring at him for several long seconds. His expression never changed.
Finally, he spoke.
"...I don’t believe you."
Ethan’s smile remained exactly the same.
"But..."
Ronan continued.
"I’ll leave it at that for now."
His eyes lingered on Ethan a little longer.
"Until I find something suspicious."
Without waiting for another response, Principal Ronan turned around and walked away.
Ethan watched his departing figure before quietly letting out the breath he had been holding.
Well...
The peaceful academy life he had dreamed about clearly wasn’t happening anymore.
That much was painfully obvious.
Still, he didn’t want to think about any of that right now. The only thing occupying his mind was rest. The rest he had been craving it for days but never managed to get any.
Now that he had finally accomplished his goal, there was only one thing left to do.
Sleep.
After returning to his dormitory and washing himself clean, Ethan happily collapsed onto his bed.
Finally...
Peace.
He had barely closed his eyes when his phone chimed with a notification.
Slowly opening one eye, Ethan picked up his phone. An announcement from the student group had appeared.
Student Ethan Ashford. Report to the Dormitory Office immediately.
He slowly lowered his phone.
"Oh, God..."
He buried his face into his pillow.
"For fuck’s sake..."
He had just wanted to rest. Was that really too much to ask?
Dragging his exhausted body off the bed, Ethan reluctantly walked all the way to the dormitory office. After knocking on the door, he stepped inside upon hearing permission to enter.
Behind the front desk sat a black-haired girl with a neat ponytail. Pinned neatly to her uniform was a name tag that read—
Ava.
Ethan politely greeted her.
"Hello. I’m Ethan Ashford. I received the announcement asking me to report here."
Ava returned his greeting with a gentle nod. "Yes. I was informed to call you over."
She glanced at a document before continuing. "I was told to move you into the D-Class dormitories."
Ethan’s eyes instantly brightened.
Really? His room was finally getting upgraded?
However...
"The problem," Ava continued apologetically, "is that there aren’t any vacant rooms left in the D-Class dormitory building at the moment."
Ethan’s smile froze.
"So... For now," she continued, "you’ll temporarily move into the academy’s newly completed dormitory building. It hasn’t been officially classified according to rank yet, so you’ll be staying there until suitable arrangements can be made."
"Oh..."
That wasn’t bad at all.
In fact...
It was amazing. Ethan had completely forgotten that ranking up also meant saying goodbye to his miserable little room.
Just imagining never having to live there again immediately made him even happier about becoming a D-Class Guide.
"Thank you."
"You’re welcome."
Ava smiled before pointing toward a young man sitting nearby. "You can go pack your belongings. Ryan will accompany you and show you to your new room."
Ethan nodded gratefully and turned toward the door. Just as he reached for the handle—
"...Seriously?" Ryan’s irritated voice drifted across the room. "You actually want me to escort him?"
He scoffed.
"An F Rank."
"No... A spoiled little F Rank at that."
"I’m sure he can figure out where the dormitory is himself."
Ethan’s hand froze on the doorknob.
Spoiled?
This idiot actually had the audacity to call him spoiled? In what universe had Ethan Ashford lived the luxurious life of a pampered young master?
Was constantly suffering every single day now considered being spoiled?
His irritation immediately surged.
Just as he was about to respond, Ava beat him to it.
"Ryan."
Her tone turned noticeably colder. "It’s your job.You don’t get to discriminate against the students you’re assigned to assist."
"If you have a problem with that..." She looked him straight in the eye. "...then resign."
Rather than calming him down, her words only made Ryan’s expression darken further.
The glare he shot Ethan was so intense that if looks alone could kill, Ethan would’ve already been burned into ashes.
Then, completely out of nowhere—
Ryan stood up.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"Fine." He looked directly at Ethan. "If you can beat me in a fight... I’ll gladly escort you to your dorm."
"I’ll even help you pack your belongings and carry everything myself."
His grin widened. "But if you can’t...Then don’t expect any help from me."
Ethan was just about to reject the ridiculous proposal.
He genuinely didn’t care. He was exhausted beyond words and had absolutely no strength left to entertain this idiot.
Unfortunately...
Ryan clearly had no intention of giving him the choice.
The very next second—
Ryan charged straight toward him at full speed.