"Severin Reignhart," he said coldly, and what would happen next instantly played out in his head.
The woman's eyes twitched because she still didn't know him from her memory, as she knew all the popular students in the Academy. But the way Severin walked, that look in his eyes gave him a regal bearing that only those assured of their powers would have. Maybe he's a crouching tiger?
"Severin Reignhart," she said as she input it on the runes on the table. Instantly, she froze, a look of horrific hate filled her eyes, and she glared up at him. "You are a weak student!"
She said it as if Severin had lied to her. She prided herself in knowing how to detect the students that mattered, and he gave off that feeling. But he's actually the weakest student in the whole Academy? She felt cheated.
Her eyes flashed, and she angrily leaned back, chewing more nuts as she made them wait.
Severin did so without a change of expression, his eyes on her, and she avoided looking at him. Instead, she glared at Derrick.
But internally, Severin was angry.
'...no matter where you are, the Admins are always the same type of ass licker! They're looking at the way you dress and the money in your account and then base their treatment on that...'
After a while, she huffed and rolled her eyes. "What do you want to register?"
"I want to register for a House," Severin said calmly.
The woman's eyes widened, and then she burst into laughter. She laughed so much that she scattered the shell of the nut she was eating on the ground. She wiped fake tears from her eyes. "Ah! I think I've heard it all. The weakest student in the Academy wanted to create a House!"
Derrick winced and distanced himself from Severin as the people in the hall, especially the admins behind their desks, looked towards them curiously.
"Is there a problem?" Severin asked firmly.
She sneered. "Of course there is! Do you even know what you are talking about? Since this Academy was founded, the first set of year four created twelve Houses, and since then, there have only been twelve Houses.
"They hold almost all the territories in the Field Zone. They have earned so much credits to even buy tickets for dungeon raiding. Their members are the strongest of the strongest, and their leaders? They will be future movers and shapers of the Empire. How can someone like you think you can be like that?" She shook her head.
It wasn't even that she was trying to insult him, it was just that she couldn't comprehend it.
Severin repeated, "I want to create a House."
She hissed, and her eyes flashed even more. "I've seen people like you who think they can become strong just because they have some bullshit will. Reality will tell you different! Either you are strong or you are not.
"For your information, you are not the only one who had the grand idea of creating a House, but where are they now? Dust and rot! Better forget everything about creating it and find a way to save your neck... wait... you're that guy that's pitted against Ethan Aldrich."
She blinked slowly at him, and a hint of pity entered her eyes. "I understand now. The last desperate struggle of a dying man. At least your name will enter the record of those who attempted to create a House."
Severin didn't correct her. There was no reason to.
"To create a House, you need one hundred thousand credits, and it must be solely from the founder or founders," she tapped the rune on her table. "Severin Reignhart. Your name has been entered into the system through the school center system. Once you have your 'one hundred thousand credits,' then you can automatically create the House and give it a name."
Her tone had turned absent-minded, as if she was reading from a book. "The benefits of creating a House is that you have the right to claim territory from the Field Zone. You can hunt monsters and different resources, selling it to the Academy or exchanging it for things like techniques or artifacts and potions."
"Also, all Houses get priority rights on missions before other students. That's all I'm obligated to tell you. Now leave me, I have a lot to do. And, oh... rest in peace."
Severin nodded and turned to go, ignoring her last statement.
They walked out of the building, and Derrick couldn't hold it in anymore. He exploded, "You! You're wasting your last time on earth doing shitty things. Do you know how many credits one hundred thousand is?
"Even the strongest student in this Academy can only earn up to twenty thousand, and that's if they save from year one. People like you? There's not even anything to say!
"Why don't you look for girls? You know, break your..."
"Do you know how to advance in class, Derrick?" Severin said calmly.
"What?" Why was he changing the topic so fast? But still, he answered, "Huh, well, you can advance in class if you show the strength of that class. Or you win in your monthly assessment, which is very unlikely. The best one is if you advance a new stage. Why are you asking?"
"Because you need to advance to class four," Severin replied.
Derrick snorted. "Class four? That's people with the Talent Ability Rank of D. I'm an E. I can only hope to reach a new class when I advance a stage, probably in my year one or two."
Severin nodded. He looked sideways at him and repeated, "You need to get to class four."
"Why?" Derrick asked suspiciously.
Severin shrugged. "Because it will be convenient for me."
What he didn't say was that those who are in class four and above can apply for missions of cleaning some buildings that normal people are not allowed in.
Those types of missions are usually left for the weakest of the year one class four students, because no one else who could earn credits in another way is going to settle for cleaning.
But Severin was going to, and he would make Derrick do it as well. His House creation plan was riding on it.