It took Raymond much longer then he would have liked to admit in order to find Willow.
He knew that the Coffee club was small from Willow. But seeing it be pushed all the way into a corner with barely any space left a bad taste in his mouth.
The space allocated for Sky Soaring was at least five times the amount, but Sky Soaring is extremely demanding on its members. Only letting the best of the best enter, usually amounting to students within the top ten—with Zachary as an exception.
Squeezed in between two other unpopular clubs, Raymond cautiously approached the booth. Fighting off the several desperate pleas from other clubs.
Thankfully, although Raymond's potential score was already well known. Most students outside the first year didn't seem to know his appearance. Only knowing that there was an extremely talented first year.
He shuddered at the thought of what if they knew his appearance. He wouldn't ever have a single day of peace!
Willow soon appeared, dragging Raymond out of the grasps of several disappointed people. "Raymond! I'm glad you managed to find us."
"It took me a while to find you guys. Here's my registration form."
Signing the form, she handed it back to him with a smile. "Here you go! You are now the fifteenth member of the Coffee Club! We have a meeting on the next Saturday so I'll introduce you to everyone there."
Looking through his registration form, he could see her neat hand writing right next to the signatures from the presidents of Mages For Life and Sky Soaring.
Seeing only Willow at the booth, he asked. "Is it only you here today? Or is the vice-president also here?"
The presidents or the vice-presidents signature was required in order to join a club so most clubs would have both present to help speed things up.
"He's currently busy so I'm here by myself. Not that it matters anyways, there's not much traffic around here and we don't get many applications...", her voice turned slightly downtrodden at the last part.
He tried to cheer her up, "...Well, at least I'm here now?"
Ugh, he was suddenly reminded of why he had no friends. Socializing was a pain sometimes, what was he even supposed to say in this situation!
"Haha, it's fine. I already knew our club wouldn't be popular from the beginning when I created it. But Raymond, i didn't know you were talented enough to be in Sky Soaring."
"Well, it just kinda turned out that way. I didn't think I would join Sky Soaring as well."
'Because I didn't want to join but I was forced to!'
He kept that thought hidden for now. There was no need to reveal that particular nugget of information.
He was quite enjoying how Willow didn't know he was the student with the potential score of 180 something. He didn't feel the same gaze he got from his fellow first year students who seemed to analyze him way too much sometimes.
But that was preferable compared to being known as the 'slave' of Ellen.
Just anything but that!
Waving her off, Raymond decided to search for one last club to join.
Avoiding the area with the Fight club since most clubs that had something to do with fighting were conveniently located around there, Raymond wandered through several rows of booths. Searching for any interesting clubs.
The Alchemists club seemed interesting but Raymond wasn't particularly interested in more studying—alchemy always was his weakest subject. Besides, alchemists were considered mage-adjacents so he could just ask Mages For Life instead.
Archery club? He knew for a fact that Ellen would join this club, he wanted to try and improve his own archery skills at least. His time in Killian's inheritance had really showed him just how lacking they were.
The Summons and Pets club seemed interesting as well. A club for summoners, beast tamers, or just animal and monster lovers in general. Raymond himself didn't delve too deeply into summoning magic but it didn't hurt to expand his options when he was so weak right now.
Pondering between the three options, he didn't notice when someone bumped into him.
"I'm so sorry but I was just rushing and uh wow....", she trailed off upon seeing Raymond.
He looked down at her, a faint sense of recognition flashed through his eyes. "Do I know you? You look really familiar for some reason."
She looked away, staring at the ground in front of them. "I'm the person you stole the wand from in the entrance exam..."
"...I'm sorry."
'Why are you here now! I'm not prepared for this yet!
'Why are you here now! I'm not ready to look at you yet!'
Unbeknownst to the two of them, they were both thinking of the exact same thing—just for different reasons.
"..."
"..."
Raymond wanted to hide away in a hole. He had known this might have happened someday but to think it was so early!
"Have you...uh...joined any clubs yet?", she asked tentatively. Her eyes still fixed onto the floor.
He replied as stoically as he could, "I'm looking for another club to join right now."
Her eyes brightened up upon hearing that, looking up at Raymond for the first time. Letting him see her face clearly.
"Do you want to join the Modeling club? It's really interesting and I think you'll do great!"
He blinked, "The Modeling club? Like for Fashion Models and stuff?"
"Yes! Are you interested?"
He shrugged slightly, "Sure, but I don't know whether I'm qualified to be a model. I don't know a lot about fashion or anything."
Were fifteen year olds even allowed to be models? He knew he was good looking but still, wasn't he way too young?
She seemed way too excited about him being interested. Grabbing his hands, "That's fine! You don't need to learn anything! Plus, the pay is really good!"
Raymond felt his own moral boundaries crumbling the moment she mentioned pay. But he didn't want to show that he was interested just because of the pay.
"But I don't know how to do makeup or pose..."
"That's fine as well! There's professionals who can do that type of stuff for you! You just need to show up and they'll tell you what to do!"
Raymond acted conflicted, before finally acting like he gave in. "Sure, where do I sign up?"
Dragging him through the crowd, the two of them soon arrived at a decently sized booth. "Emily! I found someone!"
"Lily. I get that you're excited but oh my gods!"
So her name was Lily, fitting given her long white hair which slowly transitioned into a light pink at the ends. Similar to the flower—she gave off a quiet, effortless look which made it hard to look away.
"I know right?!"
Handing Emily who he assumed was the president his registration form, he sheepishly asked. "I'd like to sign up for the Modeling club, is that okay?"
"Yes! Here give it to me!"
As if afraid he might back out at the last second, she immediately grabbed a pen and signed her name on it.
"Here! You're a member of the Modeling club now! After you hand in the registration form, I'll invite you to a bunch of group chats. When are you free for the first session?"
"I'm free for the next few weeks. But I'm planning on forming my core soon so I might be out of touch for a while."
With Raymond 'forming' a core before even hitting his 'fifteenth' birthday. He would officially break the previous record by nearly an entire year.
Despite his outrageous statement. She didn't even blink an eye at it, "Okay! I'll text you when and where, make sure you show up!"
Collecting his registration form, Raymond noted down the clubs he joined.
Sky Soaring, Mages For Life, Coffee and Modeling. Only four clubs, usually students would join five with only one or two core clubs.
Whatever, Raymond wasn't looking to join clubs that he wasn't interested in. Quality over quantity after all.
Besides, Raymond himself was going to be busy for a while. He had already requested permission for one of the academy training halls for two months.
There was no way he was going to do everything at home!
What if he accidentally destroyed his own apartment?
He had no qualms about destroying the academy training halls. They were made to be used after all!
He was still waiting for the permission to be granted but they would likely grant it. The academy just had slow management sometimes.
Honestly... the academy was situated in the capital and had a massive budget. Receiving lots of funding and donations.
So why was everything always so slow or tedious?
Raymond mentally added to his list to check whether the academy funds were being secretly embezzled.
Folding up his registration form, he shoved it into a random pocket on his uniform and left the event hall.
The remaining classes they were supposed to have were canceled for the club showcase.
So students could just go back to their dorms if they wanted. Or just go out and play, it was the first weekend after all.
After walking a bit, Raymond's ears twitched slightly.
Walking closer, he soon identified the sounds to be that if a brawl.
'Fighting in the academy? Who the hell is stupid enough to do that? It's the first Friday!'
Peeking into the area behind the building where the sounds originated from. He soon realized exactly who was stupid enough to do that.
'Zachary you dumb heroic bastard!'
Seeing Zachary locked into a one versus three brawl using only his fists, Raymond felt like joining in only to hit Zachary!
Although, he had to admit. Considering that Zachary wasn't even using any mana right now in for reasons unbeknownst to Raymond—he was doing pretty good.
Taking caution to stay out of sight, Raymond secretly watched the brawl between them. Cheering for Zachary every time he got a good hit in and wincing every time he was hit.
His three enemies were trying—and failing to use their own mana to hit Zachary. Each time they tried to muster up a decent attack, Zachary was there to quickly shut it down.
Raymond couldn't help but mentally applaud Zachary's three opponents. It was already a sure-loss for them, even in a three versus one they were struggling yet they still tried to take him down.
Truly stupidity had no limits!
Although, Raymond couldn't help but feel like one of the three seemed oddly familiar...
Searching through his list of memorized appearances, he quickly realized why he seemed so familiar.
His double chin...the chubby belly and below average height...
'Troy Depont you bastard!'