Fina and Ainz said with satisfaction.

The dinner they had been otherworldly, figuratively and literally.

The meat patties that Lucia made weren't something that Alterna had. Here, it was either whole meat or chopped meat, not like this patty that was grounded meat pad together.

The spices mixed in with the patty were good that one didn't need any other condiments to go with it. Also the way the meat melted in their mouths which caused an explosion of flavors made them nearly moan in pleasure.

Lucia also made a lot, so Fina and Ainz had their stomachs filled up and both were extremely satisfied with their meals.

The only one still eating was Cecil, since he always ate a lot, a whole lot.

So while Cecil was still eating, everyone else had begun talking about random things. Eventually Ainz had brought up a topic that neither Cecil nor Lucia understood.

"Factions?"

"Yeah, Lulu... you didn't know that?"

"What're those?"

"Haha brat! I can't believe you don't know of such a simple thing! What're you, stupid?"

"Oi, punk, want me to scorch that pretty face of yours?"

A crimson magic circle had already formed atop Lucia's hands.

"OIOI! I'm just kidding d.a.m.nit! And here you said that I can't take a joke!"

Lucia laughed and said,

"And I'm only joking as well! So... you gonna tell me about these factions?"

"d.a.m.n... your jokes are way too dangerous brat!"

"Hmph."

Lucia scoffed and took a sip of her tea then she glanced at Ainz, "Well?"

"There are 10 factions in the academy Lulu."

Fina was the one who answered Lucia.

"They are the Student Council Faction, Warrior Faction, Spell Caster Faction, Royal Fox Faction, High Dragon Faction, Dark Moon Faction, Alchemy Faction, Magical Research Faction, World Tree Faction, and the Ironforger Faction."

"Okay... so what?" Lucia asked puzzled.

Ainz who was on the side spoke up in a serious tone.

"What I'm asking is what faction... will you be joining Lucia? You too, Cecil."

It was the first time that Ainz called out to Lucia with her name instead of 'brat' so he was speaking seriously right now.

Lucia was puzzled and didn't know nor did she care. She came to the academy with Cecil only to learn more about magic and spells in order to strengthen herself. The same went for Cecil.

Cecil looked like he didn't care at all since he didn't even stop moving his hands or his mouth even when Fina and Ainz were discussing a serious topic with them.

"Well? Which one?"

"Yeah Lulu... have you decided? Joining a faction could very much alternate your course of life while you're here in the academy..." Fina said worriedly.

Knowing about her friend's talent, any of the 10 factions would surely vie for her. She then turned towards Cecil and saw that the fox boy was still eating.

'Even Cecil would be greatly valued by the 10.'

"Hey Cecil, what about you? Which faction you joinin'?"

Cecil stopped for a moment and looked up. He looked at Lucia and saw that even she was eager to hear about which faction he was willing to join.

Cecil gulped down the food in his mouth and asked.

"What's a faction?"

"..."

"..."

Lucia only giggled at Cecil's response, and then she told Cecil the 10 factions.

"Oh... what're they for?" Cecil asked, which Ainz happily responded to.

"The factions are there to regulate the academy, keep the economy moving, protect the students, research magic, concoct potions, forge and research equipment, and many other things! You could say that they're the lifeblood of the academy, the brains, the brawn, and the soul of this academy!"

"Just as Ainz said, the factions are there to operate the school." Fina added.

"What about the teachers?"

"The teachers, professors, and instructors are only there to teach us about magic, research, and combat. Everything else, like running the academy is all done by the students who are in the factions."

"Hooh... so these factions are important to the academy huh."

"Exactly! And joining a faction is a privilege and honor! Not just anyone can join a faction!" Ainz said with vigor. It could be clearly seen that he wanted to join one of these factions.

Cecil then turned towards Fina and asked, "... so what about the students who aren't a part of the factions?"

"They just go about their merry way, following all rules and regulations set by the factions and continuing on with their normal academy life."

"Now that sounds much better! Better to stay away from them than to join em, sounds like those rotten political parties that my grandpa always talked about."

"Huh?"

Fina dumbly responded after hearing Cecil's lackadaisical reply.

"Y-you're not going to join any of them?"

Cecil began moving his hands and mouth again.

"Well...*gulp* yeah. I mean, it sounds like a lot of trouble and stuff."

Seeing as Cecil was resuming his dinner, Fina spoke out again.

"It's not just about managing the school, Cecil! Keep this in mind. The school holds an annual tournament where one is tested by the instructors and fight against other students of the academy. By winning this tournament you would then have the privilege to use the academy's time magic formation to train for 1 months' time! The top ten would get this privilege, but only the winner would get 1 months' time! The second to ninth place would only get 3 weeks all the way down to 3 days' worth of time to use this important formation! These 10 spots are what every faction vies for and not one of them would want to lose that spot!"

Fina finished saying all that in one go. She paused to take a breath before continuing.

"If a person was a part of the faction and they placed in the top 10, every member of the faction that the person represented would gain access to the time formation. A day's time inside the formation amounts to a week on the outside! So, 1 months' time amounts to 30 weeks which is over half a year's time on the outside!"

Cecil was immediately intrigued hearing about this time magic formation. It seemed that the formation accelerated the time pa.s.sed inside of it. Cecil wanted to get stronger than he already was, but what he lacked was time.

Technique and other practical knowledge he already had. Combat techniques from his family and the magical knowledge from Lucia's family. All he needed was the time to digest and make these techniques and knowledge his.

To perfect and hone his technique, what he needed to do was train and training required time. Using the formation that caused one month to turn into more than half a year was something very much tempting for him.

Better yet, he could use it every year if he won the annual tournament. Cecil didn't stop eating, but he smirked and glanced at Lucia. Lucia immediately knew what was on his mind.

She turned towards Fina and asked,

"So... all we need to do is win this tournament to use that formation?"

"Huh? Well, yes, basically."

"Heh, then we'll win without joining a faction! Factions seem troublesome, and by what you said, it only turns out that I'd have to be shouldering responsibilities if I joined one of those factions. Cecil and mine's training time would reduce if we did that!"

"But Lulu, for the past couple of decades only the factions has ever made it into the top 10."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"That's because... the tournament isn't meant for individuals... I mean, of course you could individually enter the tournament, but the tests and obstacles of the tournament wasn't meant for one person to overcome... only the last segment of the tournament, which is the fighting segment, would be an individual event."

"What?" Lucia frowned hearing this, "So... what're the other segments?"

"Actually, this tournament is set to start at the beginning of the next month! The tournament is divided into 5 segments. With the first segment beginning at the start of the curriculum, the segment is called Adventure. During this segment which lasts for 2 months, the partic.i.p.ant, which is every student in the academy, is required to go out and do adventure quests issued by the adventurer guild inside the campus. At the end of the 2 month period every successful quests will be tallied and the score will be shown at the center monument of the academy."

"That sounds easy." Lucia said care freely. She was a gold ranked adventurer that was on the verge of becoming platinum. The amount of quests that she's cleared was a lot so clearing quests for 2 months was not much for her.

"No, Lucia. You don't get it. I said EVERY successful quest will be tallied, that means for a faction, which consists of a whole bunch of students, if all of that were to be tallied then the amount would be many times more than what a sole individual could possibly do."

"What?! That's no fair!"

"Well that's the advantage of being in a faction."

"Awww, come on."

Ainz who was silently listening to Fina, sneered and spoke up to mock Lucia who was now deflated hearing Fina's explanation.

"Give it up brat, we all have no choice, but to join one if we don't want to miss the once in a year opportunity!"

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