Jason was stunned that Ethan had brushed off the past so easily, and even suggested teaming up.
He was flattered, nodding eagerly.
"Absolutely! No problem at all! It'd be an honor to party up with a pro like you!"
His teammates nodded in unison, their faces lighting up with anticipation.
Their team was sorely lacking a top-tier healer, and Ethan had the Jones sisters' seal of approval—his strength was beyond doubt. This was a huge win for them.
"In that case, let's exchange contacts. Easier to stay in touch," Jason said, pulling out his phone.
The two swapped numbers.
"Well, we won't bother you anymore. See you later!"
Jason patted his chest, then led his team away.
"Hit me up whenever you're free—we'll drop everything to join you!"
After they parted ways, Ethan's phone pinged.
He looked down to see a message from his homeroom teacher in the class group chat.
[Announcement] Seven-School Training Camp Selection Tournament tomorrow.
Be prepared.
"Seven-School Training Camp Selection Tournament?"
Ethan opened the group chat and read the details carefully.
The notice stated clearly that to prepare for the upcoming Provincial Competition—which would determine resource allocation for the next year—the seven top professional high schools in the city would host a joint pre-training camp.
Tomorrow's selection tournament would pick the elites from each school's senior class for intensive training.
Slots were limited, and competition would be fierce.
"Selection tournament…" Ethan murmured, his eyes gradually lighting up.
This was a godsend!
It wasn't just for the resources and potential power-ups the training camp offered. More importantly, the camp would gather the city's most talented young professionals.
S-rank, SS-rank, even the legendary SSS-rank talents would all be there.
Compared to waiting outside dungeons for random teams, this gathering of prodigies would let him copy talents a hundred times more efficiently.
"I have to get this spot!"
Time flew by, and the next day arrived in the blink of an eye.
Ethan arrived at school just as the bell rang.
Walking into Class 7's classroom, he immediately sensed the atmosphere was different from usual.
Curiosity, confusion, and barely concealed jealousy hung thick in the air.
He walked calmly down the aisle, ignoring most of the stares.
At the front of the classroom, Kane and Lilian were already seated.
Kane's face was calm, but a faint, undeniable darkness lurked beneath the surface. Lilian's expression was far more transparent—her gaze was filled with venom as she stared at Ethan.
Ethan was slightly surprised by her murderous glare, but quickly understood.
In her twisted mind, Ethan's rise and Kane's downfall were a direct mockery of her past choices, making her the laughingstock of the entire school.
Why couldn't you have been this awesome before I dumped you?
You're doing this just to spite me!
People like her never reflected on their own mistakes.
They only blamed others.
The more successful Ethan became, the deeper her hatred grew.
Realizing this, Ethan lost interest in her. He found an empty seat and sat down.
No sooner had he settled in than another commotion erupted at the classroom door.
The Jones sisters, Amy and Ella, had arrived.
Their eyes swept the room, quickly locking onto Ethan.
The two girls nodded at him almost simultaneously—a small, natural gesture that spoke volumes—then walked straight to the empty seats next to him and sat down.
Whispers broke out across the classroom like wildfire.
Almost at the same time, Jason and his teammates from Class 6 passed by the door, spotted Ethan, waved, and then headed back to their own classroom.
These successive displays of goodwill sent the whispers in the classroom into overdrive.
"What's the deal between the class president, academic rep, and Ethan?"
"Why are Jason and his crew being so polite to him?"
"What happened at the dungeon entrance yesterday?!"
"A few days ago, everyone was calling him a simp and a loser! How did he turn things around so fast?"
"Kane looks like he's about to explode. Lilian's face is priceless."
"This is gonna be good. Something's definitely going down at the selection tournament…"
Everyone's eyes darted back and forth between Ethan, Kane, Lilian, and the Jones sisters, buzzing with speculation.
But the chatter quickly died down.
Mr. Arnold, Class 7's homeroom teacher, was standing at the classroom door.
Mr. Arnold's gaze swept the room, pausing briefly on Ethan, Kane, and the Jones sisters—he'd obviously heard about the drama at the dungeon entrance yesterday.
He cleared his throat, silencing the last murmurs in the classroom.
"Students," Mr. Arnold's voice was as steady as ever.
"I'm sure you've all seen the notice. The Seven-School Training Camp Selection Tournament will be held this afternoon at the school training ground."
"This is a crucial opportunity for all senior professional students in the city.
It's tied to resource allocation for the next year and your personal development."
He paused, his expression turning serious.
"This selection will not be based on talent or potential—only on your current strength! The rules are simple: arena battles, opponents chosen by random draw. The top five finishers will earn spots in the training camp."
"Five spots. Thirteen classes competing. I don't need to tell you how fierce the competition will be. Our class is lucky—we have three students with S-rank talents. I expect you to secure at least three of those spots for us."
His gaze swept over the top contenders—Kane, Ella, Amy—and finally lingered on Ethan for half a second.
"Ethan, you don't need to participate in the tournament."
Mr. Arnold's words hung in the air.
The classroom erupted in an uproar.
All eyes shot to Ethan—this time, shock, confusion, and schadenfreude replaced the earlier complex emotions.
"He doesn't need to participate? What does that mean?!"
"Did he get disqualified? Is this payback for offending Kane yesterday?!"
"No way. Mr. Arnold isn't that kind of person… and the Li family doesn't have that much pull. Offending the Jones family would be a bigger deal."
"So they just think he's too weak to bother? A waste of a spot?"
Whispers flooded the room like a tide.
A look of stunned disbelief flashed across Kane's dark face, and a cold, triumphant smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Lilian scoffed loudly, her venomous gaze turning to pure satisfaction—as if she'd finally seen justice served.
Ethan was also caught off guard, not expecting this twist.
The seven-school training camp was a goldmine of talents—he'd been determined to get a spot.
But without even a chance to compete, all his plans would be for naught.
He looked up, meeting Mr. Arnold's gaze calmly.
He didn't demand an explanation immediately, waiting quietly for the teacher to continue.
He had a feeling Mr. Arnold wasn't targeting him.
There had to be more to this.
If this was truly a case of unfair targeting, he'd just wait until the school picked its top five—then challenge and defeat every single one of them.
Someone would have to answer for this injustice.
Amy and Ella frowned at the same time, exchanging confused glances.
Ella spoke up directly, her voice ringing with indignation.
"Why not?! Ethan is insanely strong! Why won't you let him compete?!"
Ella's clear, angry question cut through the stunned silence in the classroom like a knife.
All eyes turned to her.
"The academic rep is sticking up for Ethan? Are they that close?"
"Looks like he's latched onto a powerful ally."
"What's so great about Ethan anyway? Why does the academic rep keep defending him?"
Whispers broke out again, the focus shifting from Ethan to Ella, then back and forth between the two as everyone tried to piece together the puzzle.
Mr. Arnold seemed to have expected this question.
He raised a hand to quiet Ella and the murmuring students.
"Miss Ella, please calm down. I haven't finished speaking," Mr. Arnold said slowly, his gaze returning to Ethan.
"Ethan doesn't need to participate in the school's internal selection tournament—not because he's disqualified, but quite the opposite—"
He paused, his eyes sweeping the entire class before settling firmly on Ethan, his voice ringing out clearly.
"—he will represent our school in the seven-school training camp directly!"
"What?!"
"Direct admission?! Just like that?!"
"Holy shit! Why him?! He's just a B-rank talent Priest—"
"Is the school crazy?! The class president and academic rep are both S-rank talents, and even they don't get this kind of treatment!"
The classroom erupted in an even louder uproar—this time, it was almost a roar.
Shock, disbelief, jealousy, anger—every emotion was written plainly on the students' faces.
The triumphant smirk froze completely on Kane's face.
"Why?!"
Kane shot to his feet, his face turning ashen with rage.
He could no longer maintain his calm facade, his voice trembling with disbelief and fury.
"Mr. Arnold! Shouldn't the strongest student get direct admission?! Why him?! He's just a—"
He bit back the word "loser," but everyone knew exactly what he'd been about to say.
Lilian joined in, her voice shrill with outrage.
"Yes, teacher! This is unfair! What right does Ethan have to get in directly?! We should compete for it fairly!"
She glared at Ethan with pure venom. Direct admission?
The loser she'd dumped was getting direct admission?
Had the school lost its mind?!
Not just them—many other students wore expressions of open resentment.
Even though Ethan had apparently earned the Jones sisters' and Jason's approval yesterday, no one had actually seen him fight.
In contrast, Kane's strength—an S-rank talent with a Rare class—was proven fact. The Jones sisters were also S-rank talents with Rare classes.
Ethan, a B-rank talent stuck with a basic Priest class, had done nothing to earn anyone's respect in their eyes.
Ella froze for a moment, then realization dawned on her face. She snorted softly and sat back down, satisfied with the outcome—even if it had been unexpected.
Amy nodded slightly, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
Ethan was also stunned.
He'd expected an explanation, but not this—a free pass to the training camp.
The problem was… he didn't want it!
While the talents in the school selection tournament might not be top-tier, talents were always useful.
No one ever complained about having too many talents.
With direct admission, how was he supposed to grind more talents?
Mr. Arnold looked out at the sea of outraged faces, raising his voice to cut through the noise. "Silence!"
His imposing aura quelled the chaos—if only temporarily.
His eyes swept the room sternly.
"Every school gets one direct admission spot. Our school's spot was decided long ago by a single rule: whoever clears the newbie dungeon gets the spot."
"So that's how it is!"
"Ethan just got lucky, that's all!"
"Ugh! Must be nice to have powerful friends to carry you through the dungeon!"
Everyone had seen Ethan walk out of the dungeon with the Jones sisters yesterday. While that had changed many people's opinions of him, the general consensus was that the Jones sisters had done all the heavy lifting.
Ethan had probably just landed the final blow when the boss was already on its last legs.
After all, a Priest acting as the main damage dealer was just too absurd to believe.
Mr. Arnold's gaze swept over the sea of disgruntled faces, finally landing on Kane. "Mr. Kane, you said the strongest student deserves direct admission. Let me ask you this: yesterday, when your team entered the dungeon… who was the one who landed the final blow on the boss?"
Kane's face turned even uglier.
He gritted his teeth.
"It was Ethan, but that's only because—"
"No 'buts,'" Mr. Arnold cut him off sharply.
"Dungeon records show Ethan was the sole player to land the killing blow."
"This is the rule. Whoever clears the dungeon gets the direct admission spot. The school's decision isn't favoritism—it's honoring a rule that was set long ago."
He scanned the classroom, his tone brooking no argument.
"This rule was announced on the first day of school. Most of you just didn't pay attention. Now that the result is here, the school must keep its promise."