The top three students were none other than Rocky, Erin and Buhara, which meant that Rocky's Champion Party had outperformed everyone else at the university.
"What the hell! I expected the Champion Of Gemini to top the list, it was obvious he would, however, the blonde and the orc came in second and third.... That's quite an achievement"
"I expected the Orc to do well, he was even ranked first in the mid semesters, however, I did not expect him to do SO well, because I felt like the written tests would impede him.
Guess he's not slow-witted afterall".
"What does that blonde even do? How did he place second? Did he not just lose a bout against the 89th ranked Champion Of Poseidon?"
"No–, you're wrong, he almost won his bout against the Champion Of Poseidon until she cheated and called on the power of her patron god, that guys solid"
Heated chatter broke out amongst all students as they looked at the top three ranks.
While almost everyone unanimously expected Rocky to take the first place, it was Erin and Buhara who had outperformed everyone's expectations to take the second and third rank.
It was no secret that Buhara struggled with academics and hence although he performed well in the mage practical exams, many expected him to be in the mid 50's in terms of overall rank, since they expected his written tests to weigh him down, however, Buhara seemed to have beaten all expectations and clinch the third spot.
This was no coincidence as many believed it to be, as Buhara had genuinely worked hard on his weaknesses to ensure that he gave the written tests his best shot.
Erin and Rocky were witnesses to his hard-work as Buhara did indeed burn the midnight oil to give mugging up topics his best effort before the exams.
Similarly, Erin taking the number two spot also came as a shock, as the support combat subjects were notoriously hard to score perfect points on.
"Indeed" he said, letting Sophia live in delusions and he simply let out a soft sigh.
"I'm packed and leaving the university now... so forgive me in advance for not staying back for your valedictorian speech.
I will meet you in three days time near the farmer's Hut on floor 21.
Next time we meet, it'll be for revenge and war" Sophia said, as she did not dwell on the fact that Rocky had placed first and instead focused on their upcoming mission in three days time.
"Yeah, I'll see you there–" Rocky said, waving her goodbye, as Sophia did not even wait and bother to congratulate Erin and Buhara who seemed to be waiting for her words.
As if the two of them did not even exist for her, Sophia walked right past them without acknowledging their excellent performance as internally she refused to accept that she was inferior to those two.
Leaving the university instead with her suitcase packed, Sophia left for floor21, where she planned to wait for Rocky when he eventually showed up with the True Elites Guild for the upcoming Floor Raid.
"Wow, not even a word .... What a bitch" said Erin, as he seemed pissed that Sophia refused to make eye contact with him, however, even more pissed that she did not even congratulate Buhara who seemed to be desperate for her acknowledgement.
"Rocky, why did Sophia leave early?" Asked Buhara innocently, as Rocky smiled and changed the topic to lighten Buhara's mood.
With Sophia's aura being a completely hostile black, Rocky knew that she was no longer an ally they could rely on and hence this was probably the last cordial conversation they would have.
The next time they met, Rocky had a strong gut feeling that the two of them were going to be enemies.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone! ///