Rising Against Fate

"The presentation is divided into four parts. I will ask you for questions at the end of every part."

After Razak said that, Kat changed the slide to the introduction part. The introduction part was just a simple definition of the topic unlike what most people in the crowd expected. Because of all the hype given to this event, people were expecting something extraordinary. But what's on the screen was surprisingly something 'normal'.

"So, the club is basically about researching mana, its origin, and uses."

After Kat's casual introduction, Razak stepped in for the explanation.

"Lack of proper understanding of mana has limited our growth for centuries. Having a research club on that topic here will be net-positive. Even if we are not able to find anything new, we will be able to collect the already available information and use them."

Razak knew it well that even if he didn't mention it, people would take it as an attempt to come across something new when they hear the word 'research'.

In light of all the attempts made on mana research that produced no results, it wouldn't just be overconfident to say that they would come across something new. It would simply be arrogant.

"Sounds lame."

"But the other guy is from the Fectum clan."

"He is also ranked number 8."

"Nah, he is just a c.o.c.ky dude."

Silent jeers were heard from the crowd. But like before, Razak just ignored them and moved forward with the presentation.

"Please feel free to ask any questions that you have."

The whole crowd became silent as they looked towards the man who raised his hand. It was the Eastern Academy student council president, Kenji himself.

"Yes."

Kenji smiled when he saw Razak respond so casually. Looking at his confidence, he couldn't help but feel intrigued.

"The idea is fascinating, but I can't see how it aligns with our goal of having clubs. The clubs are established with the aim of improving our physical and magical abilities. The idea sounds too focused on theoretical aspects of magic to me."

Razak looked towards Kat and nodded. Kat understood what that nod meant, so changed the slide to the next one.

"These are the list of activities that the club will be focusing on."

After Kat introduced the slide like before, Razak moved on to the explanation.

"I believe this will answer your question."

Razak glanced at the screen and turned back towards the crowd. At this point, the crowd had become too focused on him than the presentation. So, this motion was necessary to shift the focus of the audience back towards the presentation.

"As written there, the study isn't just centered around the absorption of mana. It will also include the study of how a magician changes that mana into spells. And it isn't just limited to studies, it will also include the practical exercises on how to increase the efficiency of that process. This all will in turn help in improving one's magical abilities. Also, this process will include the study of MMs."

"What does he mean by studies of MMs?"

"Isn't that a part of what Engineering club does?"

"That newbie is just fooling around with us."

"Have some respect for seniors damnit!"

The last one came a bit loud, but it was understandable. The last part of what Razak said was indeed controversial. It was like stepping on Engineering clubs' toes. But before the situation escalated further, someone from the student council raised his hand. It was Kaito Suna, the secretary.

"I get where you are coming from buddy, but"—the look on his face became serious—"wouldn't it be better to merge those goals with the Engineering club? It would save us a lot of paperwork."

It was no surprise that this question would be asked. But what's important here was: which side brought the topic out first. It wouldn't be wise if the presenters were to bring out the topic of another existing club.

"Some of our goals may sound similar in few ways, but the methods to reach them are completely different. The Engineering club focuses on the mechanical aspects, while our club is more based on research and functional aspects. We can cooperate with Engineering club, but having two different working methods on a single club will be counterproductive."

Kaito looked satisfied with the response, but the only first-year face on the desk looked a bit curious.

The 1st and 2nd-year representative position was considered a privilege. Privilege in a sense that it wasn't rare to see the people in those positions end up as presidents. Third-year didn't have any representatives because only third years were allowed to run for president. And by the time they reach 3rd year, they would have collected enough fame to dominate the elections.

As the first-year representative, there was a chance that people may consider Asa biased. And because of that, it would have been wise to let seniors handle this one, but she wasn't the type who would hesitate to express their curiosity.

"Are you claiming that your methods will produce better results than the engineering club?"

'Even though she looks like an innocent kitten, she turned out to be a leopard waiting to get a jump on you,' thought Kat. This assumption was normal considering the fact that he had no idea she was just trying to satisfy her curiosity.

This question came as an unexpected one. Unexpected in the sense that it was too direct. Based on the circ.u.mstances, it would be unwise to look for the third way now. The answer that people were expecting was either yes or no. Trying to be vague or avoiding the direct answer would be disadvantageous.

There was a brief moment of silence in which all the eyes were focused on Razak.

Here, if he was to say 'no', that would mean that the club is redundant. And if he was to say 'yes' then it would sound as being overconfident. That would also leave a lot of room for a lot more questions. After that brief moment of silence, Razak answered all the attention that was centered on him.

"As I said before, only some of our goals are similar. And in those, yes, our chances of producing results are better than theirs. They have been trying the same approach for years now. Maybe it's about time we try something different."