As Reyansh walked through the familiar corridor, watching a slightly old door and a window, few memories surfaced in his mind. He was a student at this school too, until he turned twelve and wasn't able to awaken naturally.
He gritted his teeth as he remembered, his reputation of being best among the Elite class of this school had become a thorn to his daily life.
The setback was more hurtful when everyone except him awaken in his class and went on to join powerful guilds.
Aziz Mohammad was one of his classmates among many others.
At the time when he was at his lowest having recently lost his father, mother on a sick bed then failing to awaken.
He was desperate to do anything, he went to the principal for help. To loan him the amount to buy awakening potion but then the real world hit him.
The principal had first showered him with praises then gave a monologue about standing with him.
Just when Reyansh thought he finally found his rope, principal served up the contract.
If it was a normal contract with an exaggerated loan or something like that he would have signed it immediately.
But the contract stipulated that Reyansh would have to work under Sunbeam school till he was alive, basically a contractual slave.
After reading the contract, Reyansh understood that rope he was looking for was actually a noose around his neck and he barely saved himself.
From then on it was a struggle between jobs and looking after his mother and paying for his sister's education.
"Wait for a moment, I will call up the principal," Words from Mehta sir broke his nostalgia as both stood in front of principal's office.
Reyansh nodded as he relaxed his clenched fist and took a deep breath to calm his mind in turmoil due to resurfaced memories.
'It doesn't matter now, I have my path and something that destined to make me the top hunter.'
'I just have to make sure that I don't just become one of top hunter but the undefeatable hunter in all dimensions.' He reassured himself as he strengthened his resolve and set a glorious goal.
"Come in," a voice came from office, Reyansh entered.
"Welcome back, Reyansh. You had a stellar reputation when you were student of our school," an unexpected feminine voice reached Reyansh's ears.
Just as entered the room, he felt the shift in the amount of mana in the air. However, he stood a bit more surprised by the sudden revelation, before he could respond back, the new principal spoke up.
"Mr. Mehta, wait outside, I want to talk to Reyansh alone," She ordered.
"Yes, ma'am," he complied.
"I didn't know that principal of the school had changed," Reyansh remarked as Mehta sir left the room.
"Please have a seat, Reyansh," She requested.
He sat down as he started thinking of ideas to start a conversation. He had prepared himself for the cunning principal but this was out of his expectations.
"So you have become a hunter?" She directly asked.
'How did she know? I didn't felt anything except the abundant mana in room. Is her mana that high?' He wondered.
"Yes," he accepted, seeing no scope of lying.
"And you haven't signed any kind of contract for that?" she questioned.
"No."
"Well, congratulations then. I have checked the records of our school after the Merge. You had the highest marks physical and theory despite the strict examination of NHC," she remarked
"I had prepared a proposal for you but I see now that I have missed on an opportunity," she added.
"No, thank you Principal. I had decided long back I won't be accepting any outside help for my awakening. Thank you for your thoughts," he replied immediately.
"I just wanted to ask permission to take my sister home early for today," he added.
'Is she just snooping about me or is there a purpose behind her questioning?' he remained on guard.
"Oh yes, Vanya Kaul, she's following in your footsteps and already become topper of her elite class. You have done well to look after your sister depsite the hardships," She praised both siblings with a smile.
'What did she want? I can't even guess at the moment,' Reyansh mind raced with multiple possible reasons.
"Thank you for your words, Principal. That's a given, since she is my sister," he responded with a smile on his face.
"Okay, you have my permission to take your sister home." She agreed.
"Thank you for your time, Principal. I should take my leave, thank you for looking after Vanya." He stood up, ready to leave.
She pushed her contact card on the table towards Reyansh.
"Please keep this, you can contact me if a need ever arises." She stated.
Reyansh accepted the card and turned to open the gate.
"And, Reyansh, don't worry about the little incident earlier, I will handle it personally and also make sure that something like that never happen again."
"Happy Birthday Reyansh, I hope your hunter journey be fruitful to you," she greeted him with a smile.
'She's smart and informed,' He concluded internally.
"Thank you for your gift, Principal," he accepted her words with a smile and left the room.
Just as Reyansh left the room, the mana stirred in the room as a white cat appeared on the table, sitting comfortably.
The cat had fur white as snow but in her eyes there was intelligence and something more. The golden circle in her eyes was a mark that she wasn't just a simple cat.
"What do you think about him Luna?" The principal asked.
"He is an interesting one. He couldn't sense me at his level but he felt the change in mana in atmosphere." The cat, Luna, spoke leisurely.
"According to his mana level, it hasn't been more than a day or two since he awakened," she added.
"I can see that for myself, I mean what did you see in his future?" the principal asked.
"Well, not much. That's why I said, he is an interesting one. There could be two reasons, either he is protected by some higher entity or his future is changing so fast that it's impossible to predict." Luna answered.
"Both scenarios are dangerous but what could be frightening if he has both. Although I couldn't see his future, I get a feeling that he will be an interesting one to watch." Luna concluded.
"You think that strongly?" the principal asked with a hint of curiosity as she took out some papers from her desk.
"Hunter cadet, Reyansh Kaul, ratings in every physical and theoretical examination, S. This qualifications earned him the title Elite of the elites," she read out from the paper.
"Well, documents agree with you too. I will ask someone to check for new streaming channels that started within a week." She stated.
"Let's see if your run as a hunter is as glorious as your life as a student, Reyansh," She remarked looking over the window as her eyes gleamed with interest over unknown possibilities.