ALL NOVEL Chapter 2: Rank
Zach frowned and blinked several times before being able to open his eyes.
"Woah…"
He knew he had summoned something what with the flashing lights and all. But he hadn't expected a tall, blonde, maid beauty to appear instead of something like a dog, bird, or block of ice.
But the show didn't end there, even as the maid opened her eyes and looked at Zach with a solemn expression.
[Zacharia Evandiel]
[Level 1 Summoner]
[Innate Skill: Divine Luck]
[Contract Skill: Blessed Defense]
[Contracts: Yanael]
[Yanael – S-Rank Angel *Battle Maid Variant]
Zach's eyes widened as he took in the information on display on a bronze-colored, holographic window. He skimmed through most of the information before his gaze lingered on two things.
The name of his summoned familiar and her rank.
Zach was curious about the skills, too, but he had people waiting for him to leave the Chamber, so he waved away the window and looked at Yanael.
"Hello, uh, and thanks for accepting my contract. It's very nice to meet you."
Yanael responded with a slight bow, her hands clasped in front of her. The maid dress reaching her ankles didn't even sway as she moved. At a glance, Zach could tell that she was the epitome of grace and elegance.
Zach was excited, and he couldn't keep himself from smiling as he turned around and waited for Yanael to catch up before pushing open the doors and leaving. He took a moment to bask as he left the Chamber, waiting for the 'oohs' and 'aahs' of awe from the crowd still waiting for their turn.
Zach didn't get the reaction he expected.
Instead, he got…
"Huh? What's that?"
"A doll?"
"A homunculus, maybe?"
"Don't care. She's pretty. I hope I also get something like that."
"In your dreams. I won't let anyone else have her."
"Dude, she is already that guy's contracted familiar."
"Don't care."
"Still…To think an Evandiel would only summon a homunculus. What a letdown."
"Letdown? Are you blind? So what if it's D-rank or whatever? With a face and body that beautiful, you don't need to be useful."
Zach glanced back at his angel. He scanned her up and down real quick.
Sure enough. Not a wing or a halo in sight.
"If you're done, get moving. Since you have passed both tests, you can settle down in the dorms or go to the cafeteria."
The instructor also gave Yanael a couple of intrigued glances, but he had a job to do. And the Academy wasn't lax on people who didn't do their jobs since they had more people trying to be instructors than they had students.
Zach nodded and turned to walk to the dorms, ignoring the looks from the crowd.
Fortunately, his reputation as a walking misfortune magnet prevented anyone from asking him about his supposed homunculus. Zach was free to wander around until he found the cafeteria on his own, all the while Yanael trailed behind him like a loyal servant.
Zach wasn't the only one who decided to visit the cafeteria, but there weren't as many as he had expected, and he easily found a place to sit down after grabbing his food. Zach narrowed his eyes as he looked at his familiar.
'I wonder if she wants something to eat.'
But before Zach could ask or offer Yanael some food, a person Zach had no memory of seeing before sat down in front of him.
"Zach Evandiel, right? Nice to meet you. I'm Julius Hersko." Julius reached out and grabbed Zach's hand, forcefully shaking it.
Since Julius was so brave, Zach didn't mind the rushed attitude. It was way better than avoiding him like the plague like others did.
"Can you stop staring?"
Zach did mind, however, the way Julius ogled Yanael. All throughout the greeting, he hadn't moved his gaze away from Zach's battle maid.
"My bad. I just had to check for myself."
"Is that why you're here?"
Julius nodded.
"And to make friends. I figured since we have similar familiars, we should stick together."
Julius gestured to the wooden, faceless mannequin unsteadily walking over.
"I rushed over as soon as I saw you, but I didn't think it couldn't keep up if you're wondering why it's all the way over there."
"I just figured you left your familiar in the hallway like most others do."
"Ah. No. Anyway. D-rank Mannequin. That's my familiar."
Julius looked at Yanael again, pushing up his glasses with two fingers.
"As for yours…?"
Zach glanced back and met Yanel's eyes.
"I'm sure you heard the rumors since you came. But setting that aside, do you know what the highest-ranking familiar summoned this time is?"
Julius stroked his chin and raised his eyebrows in a teasing smile.
"I see… It's not a D-rank homunculus, is it? But forget it. Even if it's something better, you're still far from the top. We had three A-ranks with us this year."
Julius was smug as if he was one of those three.
Zach frowned. That meant he was the only S-rank. If he revealed the rank of his angel, he would end up the center of attention. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
But Zach was aware of his own natural inclination for trouble.
"Well? C'mon, tell me. Is it a C-rank something? There's no way is B-rank, right? I mean, it could be, considering the details and its beauty. Hey.
Hey. Hey."
Julius was so impatient he even started tapping Zach's shoulder, startling him out of his deep thoughts.
"Even if you don't tell me, I'll find out tomorrow when we do the rank assessment to determine what classes we should take."
'Ah.'
Zach sighed in relief. He didn't have to make a choice.
He leaned in like he was going to tell Julius a secret. Eagerly, Julius also leaned in and pointed his ear at Zach.
"...S~o not telling."
Zach stuck his tongue out and grabbed his plate, disappearing before Julius could react.
"You bastard!"
Julius sighed after hollering at Zach's back. He looked at his mannequin.