Chapter 17：Ancient Runes Club (1/2)

After their training ended, Arthur went back to class. It was now their free time, usually used for clubs.

”Hey, Arthur! Need help with choosing a club?” Markus walked over and leaned on Arthur's seat. As the latter was just mulling over it, he welcomed an introduction.

”I'm not even sure I'll be attending a club though…”

”You should if you want to get into Jerano. There's extra credit for people with extracurricular activities. Especially for famous clubs like Virtual Fighting, Abilities Evolution, and Dungeons Science. These are the ones that are selling like hotcakes. There are also Martial Arts Club, Mana Research Club, and Skills Club.”

Although Markus was a bit too chatty unlike his friend Amelia, he was still a great help. Arthur listened quietly as he flipped through the introductions of these clubs in the guideline he found in the classroom. There were so many clubs out there that Arthur didn't know how many hobbies people had.

As he was considering what club to join, he came across a small introduction of a club that caught his eye. It was called The Ancient Runes Club. As he started reading the introduction and activities more avidly, Markus peeked his head to see what he was reading.

”Oh, that club. I heard it was the lowest of the seven clubs.”

”Seven clubs?”

”Yeah, clubs that were first founded when the school started. Six I already told you about, and this one here is the seventh. These clubs are accredited by Jerano so joining them gives you credit if you applied for their related scholarship.” Arthur's eyes gleamed as he heard this. Every year, Jerano would host an examination for students from all over the Yalveran Union. This examination would mostly be about testing the student's abilities and fighting capabilities as that was the most sought-after examination. However, there were special scholarships that gave you an advantage over other students if you took this exam. This was their way of recruiting talented students that weren't so good at fighting.

”I think I'll check this one out.”

”What?” Markus was speechless. It sounded obvious that Arthur should join one of the more popular clubs as that would give him more advantages in applying.

***

As Arthur decided on his club, he went toward the clubroom on the third floor. As he looked through them, he found out that this club was further to the back, unlike the rest. He walked through the hallways until he reached a classroom at the corner of the floor before he knocked. After three knocks, a lazy voice told him to come in.

”Welcome, how may I help you?” The person inside was a male student who had huge black bags under his eyes. He sounded tired but remained his polite attitude.

”I'm here to join the club. Is it closed for today?”

”Oh… OH? Do you want to join? Come in! Come in! How come you're only joining now?” The student suddenly grew enthusiastic as he introduced Arthur to a seat and started pouring tea. Arthur wasn't a particular fan of tea but he felt like he couldn't say no. As he drank the tea, he felt relaxed as the aroma spread in his mouth.

”I see that you like it. We grew these tea leaves using runes.”