<h4>Chapter 1292 Ambition : Reality</h4>
Prior to attending school at the Clock Tower, Mordred, Sakura, Mash, Zo?, and Astrid had all been thoroughly prepped for sses. They had a basic grasp of the curriculum developed by Da Vinci as, more so than advancing their education, attending school was meant to give them a chance to learn how to socialize with people outside Avalon.
Due to their past, Zo? and Astrid had issues dealing with strangers, especially men. If the other party was a Magus, that made things inarguably worse so, while they did their best not to let the presence of Silvain bother them, it was very clear they were ufortable. This was why Mordred had Mash sit between them as, despite hailing from the same background, her strong mental fortitude set her apart from the rest of the Designer Babies.
In truth, Mash also felt considerably ufortable. However, she was very ustomed to putting on an act so it didn’t show in her face or bodynguage. She also wanted to meet the expectations of her Master and, knowing even seventh-year students weren’t her match, she was able to remain calm. It would take someone on the level of a strong Faculty member to have any hope of harming her as, the moment they tried anything, she could, quite literally, just break them.
This was the case for Zo? and Astrid as well; After all, the former had been training under Ghad for nearly eight months so, with her background as a Designer Baby, Zo? was several times stronger and dozens of times more magically proficient than her peers. As for Astrid, she had only used one of them during the previous duels but, unlike other students, she kept a variety of Companions with her at all times. Her room back in Avalon even served as a gathering area for the adorable creatures so she had a stronger connection to them than most.
Ultimately, the five girls would be able to cause great devastation to the Clock Tower, even without Vahn stepping in. So long as they didn’t get caught roaming alone, there was very little that could actually threaten them. After all, Mordred was very near an S-Rank Heroic Spirit and, with a total of twelve Companions and two powerful Guardians at their side, even the Enforcement Division would be hard-pressed to threaten them.
Of course, the biggest protections the girls had was the lingering presence of ya who, so long as Vahn was inside the Bounded Field of the Clock Tower, could easily trace the girls. If they were in any danger, she would whisk them away and, as a result of their transgressions, the attackers could only flee at their fastest speed before Vahn arrived. Unfortunately for them, no matter how fast they ran, Vahn’s ability to move through space and summon them through the Throne of Heroes meant that even teleportation and suicide weren’t viable options...
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Like a young sheep wandering into the den of a tiger,pletely ignorant of the actual danger it was exposing itself to, Silvain did his best to maintain a polite smile as he conversed with Mordred and Sakura. He had tried to strike up a conversation with the other three girls but Astrid and Zo? only gave dismissive responses while Mash would deflect or guide the conversation back to Mordred and Sakura. She really didn’t have much to talk about and, having someone she didn’t know make even general inquiries about her past, origins, and preferences made her feel uneasy.
Fortunately, Mordred was quick to but into the conversation and, after a few failed attempts, Silvain began to realize probing the three girls for information was ill-advised. He only asked in an attempt to try and include them into the conversation so, with them making it tantly obvious they had no intention of doing so, he turned his attention to Mordred, Sakura, and, on asion, Mash. Thetter seemed easier to deal with than the other two girls so he wanted to at least begin building rapport with her.
With this in mind, Silvain decided to talk about the most pertinent topic rted to each of them, a smile on his face as hemented, "I was amazed by thebat proficiency of your entire group. The Empire must be an amazing ce to have nurtured so many prodigies in the same generation. I can only redouble my efforts in an attempt to try and catch up."
Mordred could tell that Silvain was fishing for details on the Empire but, as she was allowed to talk about anything not explicitly treated as a secret, she smiled in turn, musing, "You’ll have to work a lot more than twice as hard if you want to catch up with us. We’re not going to just be sitting around on our hands or twiddling our thumbs. The foundational principles of the Empire are based around the idea that all sapient species fundamentally have no limits to their growth. We work hard each day to be better than our past selves. If you don’t make the most of every opportunity you are given, you cannot hope to even follow in our footsteps, much less catch up with us~"
Silvain was a little taken aback by Mordred’s words but, remembering how he couldn’t even follow her movements, he couldn’t easily refute them. Still, he didn’t like being looked down on so, while doing his best to hide the fact his hand was trembling, he answered, "All of you are much stronger than me...however, that will not always be the case. So long as I’m not suppressed by others, I will one day be someone who stands at the peak of this world. If the Empire is as you say, it is only a matter of time before I surpass even you, Mordred...!"
Though there wasn’t much confidence in his words, Silvain didn’t want the five girls hailing from the Empire to look down on him. Even if the wishful thinking of the students on the BBS werepletely facious, he knew it was still possible to ingratiate and endear himself to them. If he could impress them or, at the very least, earn their respect, it would greatly increase the opportunities he has in the future. He had already banked his future on joining the Empire, even cutting ties with his family and distancing himself from most of his former friends and associates...
Unfortunately for Silvain, Mordred’s smile faded away as she adopted what could only be described as a confident and predatory expression as she stated, "It is fine to have ambitions but you should choose your words more carefully. Saying you will inevitably surpass us, despite our own efforts, is looking down on us far too much. You can’t even begin toprehend the amount of effort we put into our training so your words are entirely derived from ignorance and arrogance. The pinnacle of this world is something you can’t even imagine at your current level..."
A contrast to his earlier bravado, Silvain currently felt like he was a cockroach that had just been spotted by an earnest housewife. He felt iprehensible tiny and, though he was just doing his best to live, it felt as if the girl before him could squash him at any moment. Still, he did his best to stand his ground, even though making eye contact with Mordred made it impossible for him to even draw breath.
If not for the boy’s supreme level of ignorance, Mordred would have been impressed by the fact he was able to at least maintain eye contact. However, knowing he was doing so out of pride and sheer unwillingness to back down, she couldn’t help but pity his foolishness. He may very well be a strong individual in the future but reaching the peak was beyond the current him. His mentality all but assured that he would eventually break after a series of setbacks. It was very easy to imagine him trying to ingratiate himself to them in theing months after realizing how unobtainable his goal is...
Fortunately for Silvain, Sakura decided to give the boy an opportunity to take a step back, stating in a polite tone, "We alle here to learn more about ourselves and the world around us. Silvain, you should focus on your studies and work hard to achieve your goals. Great power is not necessary for a happy life. So long as you do your best in everything you do, sess is easy to find in the Empire. Those that stand at the peak do not insist that they will arrive there. They obtain that title as a result of the efforts they put in."
Silvain felt like an angel had descended to give him a second chance at life as, due to Mordred’s icy gaze, he had started to asphyxiate slightly. With her words serving as a transition, he had an excuse to turn away from Mordred and, though his breathing had be audible, he was able to at least pretend he was calm as he said, "Thank you for your guidance. There is a fair amount of wisdom in your words, Sakura. I’ll do my best to keep them in mind from here onwards."
Sakura just gave a small nod in response to Silvain’s words while, seated next to her, Mordred had already defaulted back to her usual smile. From the boy’s words, she could tell he hadn’t let go of his ambition but, rather than try to show off and impress them, he would now keep it close to his heart. If he had been truly serious, he would have taken a stand, even if it meant losing what little favor he had with the group. The fact he so readily grasped at a chance to extricate himself from the situation showed that he fundamentallycked the qualifying traits of the truly powerful.
Rather than voice this, Mordred took the opportunity to alleviate the tension, her eyes focusing on a group of ten people evenly split between two tables. The students facing her immediately turned to make eye contact, reading her lips as she said, "What I’m surprised about is how powerful all of the students from the As Temple are. Their educational standards seem objectively higher than those of the Clock Tower. The fact their representative managed to secure second ce is a testament to how much effort went into grooming each and every one of them~"
Though there wasn’t actually any hidden meaning behind her words, everyone privy to them had assigned various meanings to them. This included Silvain, who believed she was pointing out just how many people were superior to him, and Sakura, who felt a little ashamed that she had lost to someone other than Mordred. As for Rani and the other nine students seated around her, almost as if they were protecting her, she just stared nkly back at Mordred.
Unlike Silvain, Rani showed no fear, hesitation, or even the smallest signs ofcking confidence. Her ego might not be as developed as some real humans but, in the grand scheme of things, what most people believed made them ’human’ wasplete nonsense. In fact, being human didn’t matter all that much from the perspective of the universe and, more often than not, those that pretended it did end up causing great tragedies to unfold. There were even humans who hated each other based on such arbitrary notions as skin tone and the street they were born on so, even after more than fifteen hundred years had passed, Mordred couldn’t help but see humans as misguided sheep...
Looking into the eyes of Rani, Mordred did not get this feeling at all. Rather, she saw a person who, despite ack of emotions, carried the weight of responsibility without buckling in the slightest. She was the amalgamation of the As Temple’s efforts to create the next step in human evolution as, if left to their own devices, humans would undoubtedly destroy themselves. Just seeing what they had done to the in the fifteen hundred years since her era left Mordred absolutely gobsmacked...
(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’Vahn, "I am inevitable..."’,’Ignorance and Arrogance share a face on the same coin (o 3 o)...’,’The concept of humans, by virtue of human nature, is an evolving concept. Those who focus more on the past than the future of their own race are less than human. Progress is making the most of the present, not cing restrictions on the future of others due to the past transgressions of a few entirely unrted individuals xD’)
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