Rising Against Fate

January 10, 3068

The curriculum of Eastern Academy was divided into two parts like any normal school— theory and practical. The theory part involved general studies and knowledge of magical arts. And the practical part involved both general and magical demonstrations.

However, the curriculum covered only little of what was necessary to be a decent magician. This was because the type of spells one could use varied depending on the nature of their magic. Therefore, an equal focus was given to the club activities and self-studies.

"I am sure many clubs have already reached you, but have you considered joining any?"

"Naa… They are too noisy."

Razak stopped in the hallway when he heard the conversation. It was normal to hear this kind of conversation at the start of the year, but what piqued his interest was a familiar sounding voice.

When he found Kat talking to a senior student, he walked towards them. The guy who was with him was tall but thin, and was wearing rectangular glasses.

"I could understand why you would feel that. But believe me our club—"

"Kat, I was looking for you. The class is about to start."

Both of them looked towards Razak when they heard his voice. The guy looked a little annoyed by the interruption, but he quickly composed himself and turned back towards Kat.

"Oh, looks like you are busy. I also need to take my leave. Just know that the engineering club suits your ability better."

With those words, he hastily turned around and left. After he left, Kat sighed in exhaustion and turned towards Razak.

"I guess I owe you one. That dude had been following me since the morning."

"It was nothing. But what are you doing here in the General lab building?"

Kat leaned back on the railing and looked towards the ceiling.

"Well, you know… theories are boring."

"So, you were slacking off."

"Naa… I am just not interested in theories. I learned all this even before I knew how to make cup noodles."—Kat looked towards Razak—"But what are you doing here?"

"I was here to submit an application for apprentice laboratory assistant."

Razak walked to the railing and looked down. It was lunch break so there were some students on the ground.

"Club activities are compulsory, and as he said, Engineering club suits your abilities."

"With all those seniors bossing around, it will suck."

Joining a club was compulsory, and once joined, it was rare to see someone change it. Inside the club, there were compulsory club activities, but the ones deciding those activities were seniors.

"Well, there is a way to avoid all that."

Kat looked towards Razak. When he noticed that the look on his face was still serious, he understood what he was trying to say.

"There is no way the student council will approve that."

"They will have to approve if all the requirements are met."

"And how are we supposed to do that? In the past 5 years, no new clubs were given approval."

"I have a plan. Take a look at this."

Razak took out his MM and showed a doc.u.ment that he had been working on to Kat. The plan was to get a club approved from the student council, but for that, there were several requirements that needed to be met. And even if the requirements were met, the procedure itself was complicated.

The first step was to Email an application to the student council describing the plans and goals. Once the application is approved, a meeting with the council would be arranged. This meeting was where the applicant would be questioned about the idea by the council members. And if the club is approved by the council, a recommendation would be sent to the school administration. The problem was it was almost impossible to get the approval of the council.

"Oh damn!" Kat looked towards Razak in awe. "How long did it take to plan all this?"

"Well, typing it took longer than planning."

The casual reply from Razak enhanced his surprise even more. Razak, who was expecting that reaction, grabbed this opportunity to move right into the topic.

"So, are you in on this?"

"Man, you don't waste any time, do you?" Kat paused and thought for a while. "Okay, I'm in. But won't joining one of the clubs be simpler."

"It would. But then, what's the point? Most of them are crowded and have compulsory group activities."

Kat understood what he was getting at. Clubs were initially made so that students could improve their individual skills. But they later started doing compulsory group activities. These activities in themselves weren't bad. But they weren't much beneficial for students whose skills weren't in-line with the activities.

"It's alright, I guess… So, when are you going to send them the application?"

"I did that yesterday. I'm expecting a reply by tomorrow."

Kat smiled wryly when he heard that response. He didn't expect him to already be this ahead in the game. This also meant that Razak already knew how he would respond to the proposal.

"Man, you are scary. I am glad I am not on your bad side."

Razak just responded with a smile and looked towards his watch. It was 10:55 and the practical classes were about to begin in 5 minutes.

"It's almost time for practical class to begin. Do you want to come, or are you skipping that too?"

"I guess, I will come. It will hopefully not be as boring as theories."

The labs for the first-year students were on the first floor. So, both of them started walking towards the lift at the end of the hallway. When they reached the lift, Kat broke the silence.

"Hey, I just sent you my email. Add me to your friend list."

Razak looked towards Kat in surprise. Students' details were supposed to be kept in the school's private database. Kat was able to obtain Razak's email address meant he could access that database. But the surprise soon changed into a smile. Kat was every bit of a person Razak expected him to be.

"Okay, but when did you get my email address?"

"I looked into you when I saw you mess with that white-haired dude."