Magic's Return: I Can See The Spirits-Novel

Chapter 176 The SIC

"Full Name, Age, Occupation, and Level." 

The old man spoke with an uninterested look on his face. Vaan glanced at Elara and the others, then, he stepped forward and, 

"Vaan Astra Vesta, 20 years old, Mage, 3rd Circle." 

He gave out all the details and the 2 other Vesta children who were standing behind him frowned in confusion. They, however, did not say anything and started looking around. 

The old man noticed their out-of-the-ordinary reaction, he however, ignored that and simply glanced at Vaan, this time, his reaction wasn't as uninterested as before. 

"Vaan Astra Vesta huh, so you are her child?" 

"If by her, you mean Astra Elysia Vesta, then yes, you are correct." Vaan nodded. 

"Heh." A smile appeared on the old man's face. 

"Just know that if we find out that you are lying to us, you will not be excused." 

"I have no reason to lie here." 

"Whatever you say, little boy." The old man shrugged as he put Vaan's details into his tablet, then suddenly, a white-colored card magically appeared on the table. 

"Take it, don't lose it, it is a pain in the ass to create another one." 

"What is it?" Vaan questioned. 

"It is your Student Identification Card or the SIC, you need to keep it together with you no matter where you are inside the Academy." 

"Hmmm."

Vaan glanced at the white colored card in front of him and, 

"It is quite bland, even a child could have designed a better one." 

"It is not up to the academy to design it, that is your job." 

"Huh? My job? You don't expect me to draw some flowers or cartoons on it, do you?" 

"You are quite the joker." The old man replied in a monotonous tone, then, he shook his head, 

"That is not what I am talking about." 

Then, he took out a Grey colored card that seemed a lot more well-designed than Vaan's, and, 

"The only information the card contains is what you have provided and the Identification Number that is given to you, however, as you continue to spend the rest of your days in the Academy, more and more information like your residential area, the classes you attend, the clubs you join, the House you are in, everything else will be updated on it as well." 

Then, the old man pointed at the 3 stars at the top right corner of his Card, 

"You see these? This is called the Excellence Stars, once you collect five of these, the color of your card changes, what you have right now is a white card, basics of the basics, after you collect five stars, your card will automatically be upgraded to silvery white card, then five more stars will give you a grey card like this one, and then it is the dark grey colored card, that shows the highest level of excellence in the Academy and gives you quite a high status and influence. 

Of course, since this is your first day in the academy, you might not understand much of what I am saying, but in layman's terms, just understand this one thing, 

These stars are what all students and even the teachers in the Agresia Academy aim for, especially the ones from influential families who wish to prove themselves to the rest of the world." 

"Excellence Stars huh…" 

Vaan muttered to himself. 

Then, however, another question popped up in his mind, 

"You said Dark Grey Card is the highest level, no?" 

"That is correct." The old man nodded. 

"Then what about the Black Card?" 

He had seen his father take out a Black Card and the moment he did, that person's expression changed in an instant, if the highest level was Dark Grey, then why did that person react like that when he saw the Black Card? 

What was that Black Card? 

Was it not the SIC? 

It sure looked like one. 

"Huh? Where did you see that?" The old man frowned. 

"My father showed one to the man who sent us here, he looked quite surprised when my father took it out," Vaan replied and the old man narrowed his eyes in confusion, 

"Your father…?" 

But then suddenly, the old man froze. 

"Orion Ravenshadow…" 

The old man then glanced at Vaan and finally recalled that this man was not a child of one monster, but two…

"Is Lord Orion here…?" The old man questioned. 

"Mhm, father decided to come here as a… protector," Vaan answered. 

"So he finally decided to leave the Vesta House huh… I wonder how much stronger has he gotten." 

The old man spoke, he could feel his heart beating in excitement, after all, the legend from the past had returned to the Academy again.

"Well, he is quite strong… that I can tell you…" Vaan replied. 

His father is a man who can defeat him with his eyes closed, even after he had come this far after training with him. 

Even now, he still hadn't landed a proper hit on his father, even once.

"Heh…" Suddenly the old man couldn't help but laugh out loud. 

"You really are their child huh… 

Why the hell are you just a 3rd Circle Mage when you are their child? One would expect that those two would give birth to someone even more monstrous than them but you seem pretty mediocre." 

"Oh just you wait. I will ease your doubts soon enough, for now, it is your turn to do mine." Vaan was confident. 

"I normally wouldn't have bothered to tell it to anyone since not many people would reach that level even in their entire lifetime, but since you are the child of two people who did reach that level, I'll show a bit of favoritism and answer your question, 

Black Cards are given to the best, the geniuses who are seen once in a century. Geniuses who have collected so many Excellence Stars that if we put them together, one card wouldn't be enough to fit them even if all the space in the card is used. 

The Excellence Starts that other students treat as a sign of achievement, the Black Card holders see them as a commodity that can be collected every other day. These people reach a point where collecting more Stars simply does not mean anything, 

And for their 'efforts' to not be in vain and to acknowledge their superiority compared to others, the Academy gives them the Black Card. 

A Card that does not need any Stars to show Excellence.

And yes, before you ask, both your mother and father were Black Card holders." 

"But didn't you say the Black Card is given to once-in-a-century Geniuses? How did both my mother and father get it?" 

"Well, the simply had no choice. The gap between them and the others was simply too wide for the academy to not acknowledge their superiority.

This was the reason why the entire world was either worried or looked forward to when your mother and father decided to marry. 

Don't think you will be having an easy time here, child. 

Your parent's reputation might not be a good thing for you." 

The old man spoke, hearing those words, however, did not intimidate Vaan, rather, a big smile appeared on his face, and, 

"I guess it is time to show the entire world why it was right for them to worry when they decided to marry." 

"Says a 3rd Circle Mage." 

The old man chuckled. 

"Heh." Vaan chuckled as well. 

"Anyways, as fun as talking to you is, I do not have an entire day to waste, now that you have received your card, step away." The old man spoke, Vaan did as he was told and stepped back. 

The old man then glanced at Elara and, 

"Full Name, Age, Occupation, and Level." 

Elara stepped forward and replied, 

"E-Elara Flameheart." 

"Flameheart? Not a Vesta?" The old man frowned in confusion. 

The quota was only available for the Vestas. 

"She is my fiancée and mother's only pupil, she is a part of the family." Vaan clarified and hearing his words, the old man raised his eyebrow in surprise, 

"You are Lady Astra's pupil?" 

"Y-Yes." 

Elara nodded. The old man blinked in surprise, then, however, he shook his head and, 

"Age, Occupation, and Level." 

"21, Mage and 4th Circle…" 

"4th Circle!?" 

The old man stood up in shock. 

"What? Is it that surprising?" Vaan questioned with a frown on his face. 

The old man however simply turned towards Elara and, 

"C-Can you show me your four circles?" he requested. 

Elara nodded as she took a breath, circulated the Mana and 4 Magic Circles appeared around her, 

"It's real…" the old man couldn't believe it. 

He slowly put Elara's details into his tablet, a card was then formed on the table, however, unlike Vaan's card that had no additional details, 

Elara's card was different. 

There was one star on the top right corner of the card. 

"Just like I thought…" the old man didn't seem surprised. 

"To think I would see a Star Student from the Vestas. 

I guess the Vesta Family is finally sending the gems they have been hiding all this while."