Chapter 95 Caesar University

A few more days passed and the excitement of the girls didn't calm down in the least. Looking at them finally enabled Zavier to understand how truly big of a deal the qualifying test actually was and how many individuals would have been willing to sell their soul to get an opportunity like that.

Zavier didn't feel the same way because his progress was not dependant on a mere university. He had to rely on himself for everything but he still didn't douse their spirits with what he thought. He acted as if he was as enthusiastic as them all and ran about everywhere in tow of the leading ladies.

In the course of that they also managed to make contact with previously elusive Calista and learned about their destination and the time for their departure.

Time flowed by and the moment when they had to depart for their destination became reality.

The five recommended high school students; Zavier, Kacie, Nadia, Shiranui, Dahila were all gathered in front of the school entrance. This place had been designated as the rendezvous point for the whole team. The five of them were all set and ready to depart but they still had to wait for the teacher who was responsible for leading them throughout the way.

It wasn't long before Calista could be seen strolling towards them from the inside of the school. Her exaggerated body proportions were still as heart throbbing as before. It took a moment before Zavier could get back to himself from the land of fantasies.

Earlier he had never felt the same thing about Calista because the centre of his attention had never been her when Valerie and Alissa had been with him. Moreover, the situation never allowed him to worry about unnecessary things.

He shook his head twice in order to overcome the seductive charm that she was exuding with each and every one of her steps.

Unlike Calista's body language, her facial expressions were as far away from seduction as was possible. Her face was like that of an angel that was pure and untouched.

While her body was a killer attack that was enough to steal the hearts of any individual gazing at it, her face could cleanse any impure thoughts directed towards her.

Zavier too was affected by that angelic countenance and his soul returned to his body as the throbbing in his heart subsided as well.

Calista seemed to have not noticed the war that Zavier had had to fight with his inner self and stopped right in front of the group with a smile on her face.

She was exceptionally happy and excited because after a long while she had felt that she had triumphed over Valerie. She knew that Valerie had also been trying to go as the group leader yet the higher ups had sent her instead of Valerie.

The reason for Calista's jubilant mood was that she had somehow managed to twist the reasoning of the higher ups in her mind and had turned it into her being better than Valerie. Of course all this was only in her head and she didn't express it out loud.

Moreover, her excitement had led her to arrive earlier than the appointed time. So there was no one who was waiting at the school entrance for her.

Taking advantage of the extra time at her hands, she went inside to discuss something with the higher ups of the school and also managed to get the recommendation letters of all five of them in hard copy before they left.

The female students in front of the gate waved at her as soon as they saw her. She had a smile on her face as she stepped in front of them.

"Are you ready to go on the most important trip of your lives? This trip is going to decide whether your future will shine as brightly as the sun or will be short lived like a firework. Get into your best mental state as we head towards Caesar."

Caesar was the capital of the Hilling Empire and the city where the qualifiers would be held.

Their final destination was Caesar University that would be acting as the host for the preliminary testing. All the participants would first be gathered at the Caesar University before they would be allowed to take part in the test that would mark the future that their lives would move towards.

Soon all six of them boarded a carriage that was large enough to hold them all comfortably and the path beside their carriage began to move backwards at a rapid pace in their vision.

There was an awkward atmosphere prevailing in the carriage mainly because of the dynamic between Shiranui, Dahila and Zavier.

Dahila considered Shiranui to be a target that she had to best no matter what and befriending her would have been against what she thought. Meanwhile, Shiranui was too ashamed to talk to Zavier. She was busy analyzing the words that she was going to say to Zavier over and over in her head but had no courage to say them out loud.

Calista saw Shiranui fidgeting around in her peripheral vision. She could tell how troubled Shiranui was feeling from the fact that she had been unable to look Zavier in the eye from the moment they had all met. Every time Zavier looked at her, she would fling her head downwards as if she was avoiding something extremely unsightly. Although Zavier hadn't sensed it yet, Calista had been able to understand what was happening at the very first sight.

Calista being the teacher could have done something to lower the temperature of the car but she too had been involved in that fiasco; after all she had been the director of the play along with Valerie. Therefore, she felt that she didn't have the right to interfere anymore. The children had to solve this on their own so she kept silently kept an eye on the overall situation.

If there hadn't been for Nadia who didn't care about anything and just wanted to enjoy the journey, then the situation might have become dire later on.

Nadia opened her chatterbox as soon as she got on board the carriage. She was designed by god to never shut up and that was bound to touch some nerves at some point. But both Shiranui and Calista felt relieved at that point considering the dreary atmosphere of the carriage and they left her to her antics.

"Aren't you all excited?"

Some answered Nadia and some didn't but that didn't bother Nadia at all as she continued playing with her hair. She was busy rolling her hair around her fingers unknowingly.

"Teacher…you as well?"

Calista nodded in response to her question which made Nadia giggle in response.

"When will we get there?"

"It is going to be a long and tiresome journey so you need to prepare yourself."

Nadia didn't seem to have heard her.

"Okay, then when are we going to reach our destination?"

Calista's brows furrowed in response but she didn't say anything to dampen the mood.

"I told you that the journey has only begun and it will take us a long time probably a week or more depending upon the pace."

"Should we play a game to pass the time?"

Nadia looked at each of the member of the group in anticipation but the response that she received was not very encouraging.

Shiranui was busy looking at her lap as if she was looking for something. She was flustered, her face was red and she looked like a lost puppy.

Dahila was busy planning her revenge while Kacie was indifferent to her questions as if she had heard nothing. Unlike the others, Kacie knew Nadia intimately. She had already developed an unconscious habit of ignoring Nadia whenever she was super excited like she was today.

Kacie already knew that her constant chatter could be quite annoying at times. Even Valerie sometimes ended up snubbing her at home but it seemed that nothing could deter the outspoken Nadia in the least.

As the journey progressed there was no one who was listening to her except Zavier who loved her antics. She was the life of the journey for Zavier who was feeling uncomfortable for the most part since no one in the carriage was talking to each other. Listening to Nadia talking mainly to herself brought him some solace.

Since no one was listening to her, Nadia had no choice but to talk to herself as she narrated every part of the journey from the first person point of view.

"I see some pine trees in the distance. Look at the huge mountains. I wonder if I can climb them some day. Would I need a flying skill to do that? I hate walking for too long. It looks like I need to learn a flying skill soon or I would have to hike to see the top of those mountains. I wonder if I will be able to touch the clouds once I learn a flying skill. Are the clouds as fluffy as they look from here? Maybe they are even fluffier than the marshmallows I ate yesterday. If that's true I really want to touch them and eat them if possible. Are clouds even eatable in the first place? Big brother! Can I eat the clouds?"

Zavier had heard her entire monologue and could not help but be intrigued by her unique way of looking at things. She had been pampered a lot at home so she still retained her child like wonder despite being a sophomore in school.

"Sure."

That cheered her up and she started jumping around in the carriage which made others feel cramped and uncomfortable.

She was still a child with a vivid imagination and a good sense of humour but that also meant that her ability to read the room was a little lacking.

The girls in the carriage were baffled while looking at her. They were wondering where all her energy was coming from.

Calista had an unpleasant smile on her face as if she had been forced to come with them. Nadia was slowly starting to get on her nerves but she couldn't just tell her to shut up right off the bat.

"Big brother, will I be able to learn a flying skill if I get admitted to the university?"

Zavier laughed at her and asked dotingly.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

Nadia made a face as if he had asked her something that was painfully obvious.

"Of course that's because I want to eat the clouds as soon as possible."

"I know about the universities almost as much as you do. How would I know what kind of skills they might teach you over there?"

Zavier didn't want to lie to Nadia so he told her the truth without breaking her hopes. But his love managed to push someone else under the bus.

Nadia homed in on her target as soon as she heard Zavier's answer.

Calista saw what was coming as soon as Nadia turned to look at her.

"Teacher, you must know all about it. Would I be able to learn flying skills at the university?"

"Yes, they have some of those skills at the university but you will have to be exceptionally talented in order to learn something like that. They don't teach just anyone who manages to get enrolled in the university."

Nadia seemed slightly put off by the answer. Inwardly she was thinking that she might have to postpone her plan of tasting the clouds till later.

Nadia was about to open her mouth once again to pester Calista into answering her questions but Calista's patience seemed to have run out.

She told her to stop talking and stay quiet for the rest of the journey. She had been forced to that point by Nadia's constant chatter. Calista was feeling annoyed like never before. She was considered to be the most patient and tolerating amongst all the instructors but in front of Nadia even she had been forced to furiously scratch her scalp bloody in order to hold her frustration in.

Nadia ignored her order and was about to talk once again when Calista used a spell to achieve the same purpose.

The 'shut up' spell that Calista had used was a commonly used spell that teachers used to stop the elementary school students from crying in the class.

The spell had the effect of forcibly clamping both the lips shut together.

Due to the spell, Nadia could no longer open her mouth no matter how hard she tried.

For the first time since the journey began, Nadia felt flustered and congested in that carriage. She felt that she had so much to say but no way of saying it.

She felt so frustrated that her tears were about to fall off but she was not someone who could be stopped that easily.

Even though her lips had been sealed shut, she let out a muffled noise in an attempt to convey what she wanted to say.

In the end, Calista even had to cast a silencing spell just to stop her from letting out that noise.

Left with no way, Nadia started doing something that no one was expecting. Everyone was expecting that she would finally go quiet and would start to behave like an obedient girl in order to get the speaking restriction off of her. But instead the girl started doing a weird pantomime show which might have been the first time that such a thing had been performed in that world. She began making weird expressions and her otherworldly acting made everyone who looked at her laugh hysterically.

Even the cold Dahila and the flustered Shiranui couldn't help themselves and laughed alongside Kacie.

The charade that Dahila had been maintaining up until that point was broke apart like glass. Shiranui too managed to raise her head up after looking at her. She had forgotten that Zavier and Dahila were still there for a moment.

Shiranui looked all around and noticed that Zavier too was laughing along with them. Both Dahila and Kacie had a peculiar expression on their face that said they were laughing past the point where it would start hurting their stomachs.

She thanked her luck that a naughty and springing catfish like Nadia had come along with them or she might really have passed out from the stress that she had been feeling.

She had been dreading this meeting for a long while. Both the people that she had to apologize to were riding in the same carriage as her. Of course she was nervous.

When they had all rendezvoused outside the school for departure, she had wanted to apologized right there and then but no matter how hard she had tried, her voice had refused to come out.

Once delayed, she could think of no way to start a conversation like that. As a result, she was feeling extremely fidgety and embarrassed in facing the two of them honestly.

Shiranui was sure that both Zavier and Dahila would be antagonistic towards her by this point so she didn't try to explain herself to them for the rest of the journey.

It was not until a few days later that they managed to reach their destination, Caesar University.

Due to their previous experience, Calista had forced them all to stay on the move most of the time and camped outside only during the night when it was almost impossible for the carriage to move safely.

Unlike her fears nothing unforeseen happened along the way. They not only managed to reach safely but they even managed to arrive earlier than they had anticipated.

The journey had been unlike the previous trip that Zavier, Dahila and Calista had taken so they were very thankful that no incident had taken place in between.

Caesar University was not one of the best universities in the world; it was THE best university. Any individual who managed to get themselves enrolled in that university was bound to have a bright and streamlined future. A hundred percent success rate was guaranteed to all the students. Even if one didn't manage to make it till graduation due to any reason, the relationships built and the links established in that duration were enough to last that individual for a lifetime.

The university was like a dividing line between those who were bound to be mediocre for the rest of their lives and those who would make it big later on.

Unfortunately, everyone could not be admitted into the university since the competition was so strict that even those considered absolute geniuses in their hometowns could not make it sometimes.

When Zavier had first laid his eyes on the building of Merion High School, he had thought that the infrastructure was gigantic and full of grace. But now that he had his gaze stuck on this mega-structure he was thinking of his past self condescendingly. In this world the standards of magnificence were somewhat related to the size of things it seemed.

The university was huge and spread out over a humongous area. As far as the eyes could see, it was the area that was within the boundary of the university. If the university was a hundred-room palace then the Merion High school in comparison looked at most like a cramped studio apartment.

Zavier was amazed at the sheer magnitude of the institution. His mouth had yet to close after his chin had hit rock bottom due to surprise and awe.

Unlike the students, their instructor was a veteran who had travelled to the most parts of the world and had already seen sights that were more incredible than even the wonder in front of them. She had already developed immunity to such things despite coming from a humble background.

Calista let them all take in the sight so that they could all calm down and not act like some hillbillies from the countryside. People were already looking at them weirdly and were laughing at them for acting that way.

Although that mocking laughter was not directed at her, Calista couldn't just let her students be wronged. Therefore, she asked them all to carry themselves with grace and dignity.

Soon the charm of the university died down and the students got used to it.

Calista then started to lead them towards a huge stone gate manned by guards on either side. Calista knew that in order to pass through the gate, they had to show their identity cards and the endorsement letters of the school to the guard.

As soon as they got near, the guard on the right side came forward and greeted them with a stern expression. From the way they had been acting earlier, the guard had already deduced that they were outsiders and was already treating them like that.

Calista was a veteran and knew how to deal with such individuals. She didn't point out how rude the guard was but just took out her identity card and handed the documents of the students to them.

She then showed her ID to the guard. The guard was quite knowledgeable and stern.

As soon as he laid his eyes on the card, there was a visible change in the expression of the guard. Zavier was the first to notice the change. He hoped that Calista was not in some kind of trouble.

In fact, the guard had taken a look at the card that showed her age to be 38. He could not understand how the girl who looked like a teenager both in person and in photo could actually be a 38 years old woman.

The guard was about to raise the alarm when he decided to take another look at the card of the woman who was claiming to be 38 and that's when his expression twisted beyond the normal range of expressions. It looked like he had seen something truly terrifying but still managed to stop the scream at the edge of his mouth.

The guard looked terrified somehow despite the amicable expression on the face of Calista. The tone of his voice softened and a smile appeared on his face that no matter how Zavier judged appeared to be forced and revealed the nervousness of the guard.

Zavier wondered what the guard had seen for him to be so nervous. The curiosity lasted not more than the moment because the guard became more diligent as a result of whatever he had seen.

He not only appeared to be more helpful, his tone had softened and he became quite the gentleman as he not only carried out the necessary procedures on their behalf but also guided them on how to get to their destination easily.

In fact, what the guard had seen was her identity as an A rank mage and since the card appeared to be genuine, the guard had no way to stop them even if he wanted to. He only regretted that he was unable to make their acquaintance by leaving a good impression from the start. If only he had known that the woman was an A rank mage, he would have behaved better.

Finally the guard returned their documents to them and moved sideways to indicate that they could pass.