Chapitre 39: First Class
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Monday, August 27th, 218
"Following the advancement of many different sports... With the theory..."
Inside a classroom filled with non-uniformed college students, Irvine was attentively listening in to the professor's lecture on his subject.
"..."
The words [Introduction to Exercise Science I] were written big on the board in front.
It was the name of the class that's currently taking place at the moment.
After the 2 weeks of training camp, what had to come next was supposed to be the rosters for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd strings of the new Ravenville Arena team.
But the official sorting out procedures had to take a little longer since they also had to go through the administration process of the university first, and as such,
Even before those results could come out, the first thing that greeted Irvine after the final weekend had concluded was,
College classes.
The main and primary reason that the majority of people were coming here for in the first place.
However, even if he were to be even more attentive than he was now, it was, after all, still the first class of an introductory subject.
Aside from the definition of the class itself, even the professor had nothing more to offer but to pull out examples and stories of the advanced application of the subject in the real world.
It would literally be more productive for him to memorize the faces of the people in this class as they were going to be his classmates for the next 4 years, taking most of the same classes as him except for certain electives.
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'Medea is taking General Studies while Clayton and Wallace are Liberal Arts major...'
As he had expected, none of the rest of the people he got acquainted with from the team took the same major he did.
Most of them took Liberal Arts and General Studies while there're only a few who're in the Business Dept.
'Well, even now, excluding Medea, I only know the older students from the 2nd string. In the end, I didn't get a chance to talk or watch any of the 1st string regulars or even the new recruits because of the schedule...'
*tap* *tap* *tap* *swing*
Just as Irvine was thinking that it was a bit of a shame, suddenly a pair of young man and woman walked in with quickened breath from outside the door and directly sat on the adjacent seats next to him.
Because it was a relatively small classroom, more than half of the seats were already taken with only some single seatings were available, separating many pairs of unacquainted people in the room.
Currently, the 2 seats next to him were the only empty spots in the class if two people wanted to sit next to each other.
*pat*
The young man and woman quickly caught their breath after arriving next to him.
*pant* *pant*
"Saaaafe..." The man celebrated himself with a low voice so that it didn't catch the professor's attention.
'No-- You are very far away from safe...' Irvine retorted slightly in his mind. The class had started more than 15 minutes ago.
Thankfully or not, even though the professor had seen the two of them coming in late, he didn't really bother to reprimand the two late students.
"We're not safe at all! It's your fault we're late!" The young woman who had come in together with the guy chided her friend with a hissing voice trying to whisper loudly.
"Sshht." Her friend shushed her, "It's the first class of the first day, try to relax a little."
"You...!"
"You're both fine, you didn't miss much." Irvine politely spoke to the two of them from the side, he was currently sitting straight beside the young man.
"...See!" With the support, the guy turned more brazen even though Irvine seemed to detect a sigh of relief from him as well.
"..."
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The class continued for a while longer until the the bell notified the end of its first period.
*DING* *DONG*
Consistent with the classic aristocratic style of Ravenville's main gate, not only the sound of the bell, but even the artistic wooden flooring and walls of the classroom spelled a very specific time period for its students.
Still, the entire design of the campus ground were not so over-the-top that they would clash with the modern technologies that were being placed here and there all-over school.
Though it still might subconsciously enforced its students and teachers with a certain degree of strictness and tidiness that came together with the age of nobility.
"Phew! See, there's nothing important being talked about."
After the bell had rung. some of the students left the classroom for a breath of fresh air or some other basic needs.
The young man beside Irvine quickly spoke to his friend again, now with a louder voice.
"That's not the point idiot! We've made a bad impression to the class teacher already... Uuh." The girl managed to retort, also with a louder but somewhat dejected voice of her own.
"It'll be understandable because it's the first day! ...Right?" At the end of his sentence, the young man suddenly turned towards Irvine with his head, as if asking for another confirmation.
"It shouldn't affect you much, I think."
"Haha, hear that!"
"...."
"Oh, by the way! Sorry for the late introduction, I'm Wilson and this is Ella, what's your name?" Only now did he notice that they hadn't gotten acquainted yet with this seemingly good-mannered guy.
The young man was a very easygoing and cheerful person with spiky brown hair and pierced ear. He had a fit enough build with some well-toned muscles here and there.
"Sorry for suddenly taking the seats and arguing like that, I'm Ella."
On the other hand, the girl who just bowed lightly had a short bob cut hair with bright blonde colour on her head.
Although her clothing looked prim and proper, it also couldn't hide the fact that she also had a great figure with well-defined muscles from Irvine. And from the looks of it, probably even more evenly spread out than the guy.
"I'm Irvine. Nice to meet you." He properly introduced himself to the two of them.
"Irvine, got it! ...Are you a smart guy?"
"Wilson!"
"What? I'm making conversation here!"
"I'm... Probably average. Why?" Irvine replied to the two of them with a wry smile. It's true that he never had too much trouble getting a passing grade in school before.
"You see, me and this girl here aren't very bright. So if you have good grades, we'll probably cling onto you for the rest of the 4 years!"
"YOU'RE not smart! Don't drag me into this!" Couldn't handle listening anymore of Wilson's nonsense, the girl, Ella, exploded on him while standing up.
"...But my high school grades are better than yours Ella."
"..." In the end, the girl turned beet red unable to make a comeback.
"Haha, too bad my grades are also quite average." Irvine laughed looking at the two's antics, but there's something he wanted to confirm, "By the way..."
"Do either of you play any competitive sports by any chance?"
"Ah," Ella got startled at the question.
"Ohh, good eyes! We both do. I should be obvious for one, but you can even see through Ella with her wearing that kind of clothing huh?"
Unlike the short sleeved and tight shirted Wilson, Ella was wearing knee-length skirt with long sleeves and a cardigan on top.
"Mhm, both your postures showed it quite clearly. It's not the development of someone who're simply trying to keep fit or build muscles for aesthetics." Irvine explained.
"Postures... Wow! A real Sport Science major is different alright!" Wilson was truly amazed.
'It's not because of that though... Anyway,' Irvine just shook his comment right off his mind and continued,
"Student athletes?" He asked.
Irvine was trying to confirm if the both of them were invited students with athletic scholarships as well.
Ravenville University was most famous for its prestigious Battle Arena team, but that's not the only sport that they thrived in.
Being a top Tier-1 school, there were two other ball sports that they had relatively high achievements in as well. Which were Football and Volleyball!
Although no other sports had allowed their players to have any Gene Modifications yet, with the high Physical State achievable through the enhancement, many of the old rules had changed for traditional ball sports to suit the superior physiques of today.
Furthermore, the plays and feats achievable through each of such sports had also been significantly heightened.
Such as the record minimum and average age for dunking in Basketball, or the dribbling and shooting skills of Football.
All of them had experienced a certain level of evolution with the far higher average of Muscle Strength in this new age.
Right now, Irvine was just wondering what kind of sports these two people, which seemed to have become his first friends in this class somehow, played in Ravenville.
'Well I've met most of the Battle Arena new recruits on my first day, so...'
"Err... Actually, we're not student athletes at all. Not yet at least." Hearing the question, Wilson answered rather awkwardly.
Just after he just told him that they both played a sport competitively, it was also revealed that neither of them were scholarship students.
"B, but not because we're not good or have stopped playing or anything! It's cause we wanted to get into Ravenville, we're even planning to enter the university's team as a walk-in later!"
"...It's because 'I' wanted to get into Ravenville. Different from you, I rejected a Tier-2 college's invitation to come here." Ella chimed in from the side.
"Well I wanted it too..." Wilson just replied in a low, nearly inaudible voice.
'Aah...' Watching the two, Irvine seemed to have caught on to something.
Wilson was stealing glances at Ella beside him when she'd mentioned that.
Every year, there would always be many risk-takers who rejected Tier-2 colleges invitations to come into a Tier-1 school. People like the ones in front of Irvine were not uncommon.
Grant was also someone like that, except that he had rejected scholarship from non-tiered school to go to Tier-2. So his risk was one level below.
Of course, most of such people would be someone whose families were well enough to have no problems paying college tuition for their child's higher ambitions.
Usually, the main difference would be that people like this were more conscious of their skills compared to the invited students, and would choose a more serious majors than say General Studies, in case it didn't work out for them as a walk-in.
At least by seriously attending lessons and getting a degree with good grades, their school fees would be a money well-spent.
Irvine guessed that the two in front of him were like that as well.
'And judging by the VERY different muscles distribution between the two of them while still playing the same sport... It's that after all, what a coincidence.'
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"Actually, it's like she said... She's a bit better than me." Wilson continued dejectedly. Unlike Ella, he's not rejecting any invitations to come here.
"A bit huh?" Ella smiled smugly at his admission.
The reason he was coming to the same university as her even after graduating high school was obvious. But from Irvine's observation, the girl seemed to not have noticed.
"...So, Battle Arena right?"
"Hm?"
"Your sport."
"!! ...T, that's right." Now, even Ella's expression had turned into astonishment. Irvine had guessed two things right about them.
'Is it like Wilson said, Sport Science student should normally be able to do this kind of observation?' She pondered with a slight panic on her face.
She was afraid that she had chosen her major without enough knowledge or understanding in it than her peers. It would be a nightmare for her if she couldn't keep up with the studies.
"So this is what Sport Science students can do! How did you guessed it this time?" Wilson's eyes were, instead, sparkling. Oblivious to the fact that his comment was not helping with Ella's worries.
"Your muscles development are very different though you play the same sport. So it must be one with a very high degree of different playability." Irvine explained,
"And the most popular sport is Arena after all. It had nothing to do with our major, I'm also learning it for the first time you know." He soothed the two of them at the end.
""Oh.""
"You're right! We're going to join the Ravenville Illusions!" Wilson answered with pumping up his fist.
Majors like Sport Science, Sports Management, and Business Management would always have more than a few hopeful walk-ins amongst their midst, it was normal.
The first two was of course because of their close relation to the subject. And the last was purely because it was the major with the largest amount of student population in it.
'So these two are some of the walk-ins, huh... But.'
Whether or not the two would go on to become a permanent team members was still to be determined as of yet.
Different sports team in Ravenville would have different rules, but in the case of its Battle Arena team...
'They would have to pass the try-out first to initially be a full-fledged 3rd string, and depending on their true skills, rising to 2nd or even 1st string mid-semester won't be a problem during the regular evaluations.'
Irvine recalled the casual conversation he'd had with Derrick during the training camp,
(I see, try-outs.)
(Yeah, usually we'll have up to 50 people, from the casual lookie loos to the experienced hopeful players...)
(How many got in?)
(It differs from year to year, but it's pretty much from 5 to 15 players. It's not impossible for it to be 0 though. Ravenville's not just looking to fill their quotas after all.)
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As he was deep in thought, the young man, Wilson, who had been looking at him opened his mouth.
"What about you? Now that I see it you're also very well-built! You play sports??"
At the question, Ella who had been listening in also turned her head towards him.
"Yes. Actually, good luck on your try-out later, if you guys passed it we--"
*DING* *DONG*
Before Irvine could finish what e was trying to say, he was interrupted by the bell that signalled the start of the second period.
"...Oh, the professor's coming back. What were you saying just now?" Wilson asked.
"Break's over. Shut up Wilson, don't interrupt the lecture!" Ella sternly reprimanded him when she saw the familiar face returning back to the classroom.
"Sheesh, you're not even that good at studying."
"You...!"
"..."
Irvine just shrugged his shoulders and also turned back forward after seeing that the two're busy mocking each other again, he was about to open his book when his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.
*BZZZ*
He took it out to find a text message from Medea.
[Medea Dormer: Wallace told me to tell you that daily practice starts at 15:00 and not to be late.]
'And why didn't he just tell me that directly, that guy...'
As a student athlete with around 20 hours a week on their sport subject, daily practice was on par for the course.
[Irvine Lang: Got it.] He replied back to the message.
[Medea Dormer: They're announcing the new roster today.]
"!"
'Finally.'
Irvine couldn't deny that there's a certain nervousness in not knowing for sure whether he'd be chosen for the 1st string or not.
But that would end today too.
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