That voice was undoubtedly Aoi''s, the blue-haired elf who was sitting in front of everyone. However, she had spoken so softly that no one in that room had heard. All the others did not react and did not even seem to notice her speech; in the end, there were no other elves or half-beasts in that office.


    Elves also have amazing hearing, so it was not impossible for an elf to speak at such a low volume that it was imperceptible to human sound. But this was strange behavior for the head of the eventsmittee, after all, asking Luke to purposely defeat one of his teammates was an odd thing to do.


    In Aoi''s mind, all the pieces of that board were already falling into ce.


    ''I heard about the demonstrations of strength from a half-beast student of Zhanid. He was spotted flying without a piece of support equipment, so his mana reserve must be interesting. ording to the third oracle, a half-wolf had created an explosion on the eastern beach of the archipgo, with an energy level of intensity five.


    I checked the entry history on the ind and there is no other half-wolf that has entered the archipgo in thest 12 months, and the half-fox that arrived along with Zhanid has not shownparative efficiency inbat magic sses. Luke Lange could be a very useful pawn''


    Aoi Wintergift was an astute woman, besides being the head of the eventsmittee, in a few weeks she was going to take over the post of student council president. As the only member of the old team to be nominated for the position, she was the first student to have an outright victory in the elections for council president.


    All this made that elf the most influential student in the academy, a status that exactly represented her elegant and determined attitude.


    [This girl... she reminds me]


    ''Ayumi''


    Aoi''s noble attitude was somewhat simr to Ayumi''s, and this simrity made Luke more interested in discovering Aoi''s ns.


    The half-wolf and the elf then exchanged nces, and within seconds they both understood the deal. Luke nodded, while the elf just closed her eyes in response, also bowing slightly. With that, Luke''s goal now was also to defeat Hawk Vermillion, a mage he did not yet know the skills of.


    Luke took the paper given to him by Aoi and signed it. It was a four-page document with the regtions of the battle, the only action prevented was the death of the opponent. However, serious injuries were limited in the early stages of the event, the ranking phase before therger performances.


    Once the document had been signed, Adrian and Luke left the room. In the pocket of the half-wolf''s uniform was a note that Aoi had ced next to the documents he had signed, there the information about the mission was described in detail.


    As soon as Luke and Adrian reached the third floor of the building, walking down that first flight of stairs, the blond-haired boy copsed.


    "Luke that was so stressful, I thought I was going to die" Adrian said, breaking into tears.


    "What made you so nervous?" Luke questioned.


    "Aoi''s presence is overwhelming on its own, but there is going to be amittee meeting today. So I was sure the bastard Hawk would be there" Adrian exined, "Hawk Vermillion is one of the most prominent fire mages in the academy, but not only is he extremely prejudiced against half-beasts but he has ties to Melki''s empire.


    I heard that he has been licking Miss Aoi''s boots for a few months now, trying to gain an influential position in the student council.


    Everything had now fallen into ce in Luke''s head, if Hawk was connected with the empire, maybe he was helping Max, that alone was a reason to be eliminated. But surely Aoi doesn''t want a political connection between Melki''s academy and Melki''s empire, which no doubt exins the need to remove Hawk from themittee team.


    ''So she wants me to leave him unable to work on the student council. I see...''


    Adrian and Luke left the student council building. As the half-wolf walked, feeling the sun beating down on his ears, Adrian continued to exin why he was so upset.


    "But the worst part was that I figured you would fight with Hawk. I don''t know if creating a duel with him would be very smart" Adrianmented, while scratching the back of his neck.


    "What do you mean by that?" Lukemented.


    "Well... He is influential with the Melki empire, since he hates half-beasts I thought he would pick on you. I mean, maybe he did. Miss Aoi managed to lighten the moods in that room a bit but I''m sure he would pick a fight with you" Adrian exined, crossing his arms.


    "Hmm... Well, I wonder if he''s strong. Maybe it wouldn''t be so hard to stand up to him" Lukemented.


    "Oh, even his sister is friends with Meredith" Adrian said, raising his voice, as if he had just remembered that.


    "Does Meredith have any friends here? To tell you the truth... I haven''t talked to her much thest few days" Luke said, crossing his arms.


    "Well, I saw her hanging out with Ruby Vermillion''s group. Anyway, you haven''t mastered fire magic that well, I think the best decision would be to avoid approaching Hawk" Adrian exined, as he walked.


    [That''s going to be a bit tricky]


    ''Maybe, but I don''t care''


    As Adrian moved forward, Luke took the piece of paper, following the blond boy. The two were crossing one of the main streets of the academy. Although busy, each person was going their separate ways, students moving from one ce to another and staff members checking their assignments.


    The Melki Academy was a lush and lively city, perhaps it was this energy of an organized city that made the ce so rxing. A center for study and development, an ind in the middle of a tumultuous sea.


    Pulling out the piece of paper, Luke saw that there was no text, but a rune of some kind. Energizing that piece of paper, a stream of wind arose, following from the center of that rune to Luke''s ears.


    It was a kind of sigh, an extremely low voice, whispering in Luke''s ear. So that no one else would be able to hear what was being said. The voice was Aoi''s, it was a letter read by her, recorded on that piece of paper.


    "Hello, to tell you the truth. I already knew you woulde here, I have many eyes on this academy. Luke Lange... My goal is simple Luke, Melki''s influence is increasing within this institution, there are already suspicions of professors connected to the empire, as well as students.


    One of my eyes already knows about Max Willford. I can help you with this, if you are willing to support me in this. I have some functions for you, this alliance will be reciprocal for both of us.


    My eyes go beyond the academy, I am your only way tomunicate with the outside world. Burn this paper to signal that you have epted the contract."


    The moment the voice finished speaking, all wind flow returned to zero. That little breeze of air stopped flowing through Luke''s arms. Before even thinking of any possibility or consequence, the half-wolf snapped his fingers with the piece of paper. Creating a small amount of me in his hand,pletely burning the contents.


    With that, the half-wolf had epted the contact.


    *


    Inside the student council room, sitting in her chair, Aoi Wintergift gave a small smile at that very moment.


    ''I got an interesting piece for my board...'' she thought.


    With that, she closed her eyes for a few seconds. Once her eyes were closed, Aoi activated her gene skill.


    <The Grand Keeper>


    Within seconds, every corner of Melki''s academy shed past the elf''s eyes. Every millimeter of the ind was checked in seconds, so she confirmed Luke''s support.


    The Grand Keeper is a skill of legendary quality, which allows the user to check a given area in seconds. Coupling this gene with her extensive mana and magic mastery, Aoi Wintergift was the most powerful and well-informed woman in the archipgo.


    No one could escape her gaze and her influence, but her skill was far from perfect. That was a clear fact.


    *


    *


    [You didn''t mind that girl? She knew a lot about you]


    ''She spoke to me directly only to get my respect. If Melki''s empire already knew of my presence, they would have attacked. I don''t imagine she has an informationwork, I haven''t felt any presence around in thest few days...''


    [Which means she knows about it by other means]


    ''Exactly, maybe it''s some magic like that scroll, or even an artifactwork. But I don''t imagine that kind of information about me is circting''


    [That''s an interesting analysis Luke. I got curious now with that thought... Anyway, the best thing now is to look more into that girl]


    ''Yes, if she has information about me, the ideal is to level the ying field.''