Chapter 178 Meeting the Four Celestial Families

Chapter 178 Meeting the Four Celestial Families
"Go get some rest. I'll need you to show up at the gathering tomorrow, too." Eve said a moment later.
"Okay. By the way, how long am I going to stay here?" Leo then asked.
"It would be for the best if you stay here for a little longer. Do you want to return to your dorm?"
"No, not really. This place is much better than the dorms, and there is a training room right next door, too." Leo said.
"Alright then."
Leo returned to his room shortly after.
He stripped naked and went into the bathroom to take a hot bath.
'During this tournament, I got to defeat many high-ranking Adventurers and acquired a small amount of Magic Points.'
[Defeat B-Rank Adventurer]
[Reward: 1,000 Magic Points]
After he defeated 3 F-Rank Adventurers, his quest shop upgraded to E-Rank Adventurers, then D-Rank, C-Rank, and now he was at B-Rank.
However, besides Lia, nobody else was a B-Rank Adventurer, so he only managed to finish it once, and he still had to defeat 2 more B-Rank Adventurers before his quest could be upgraded to A-Rank.
'Seven thousand Magic Points… That's not enough to buy any upgrades or passive skills. Looks like I will have to wait for the Headmistress to give me the mana cores before I can do anything.'
Camille showed up a few hours later.
"Miss Camille? What's wrong?" Leo was pleasantly surprised to see her in front of his room.
"I wanted to check up on you, and I have some news for you," she said.
"The Light Family will be sending a representative to the academy tomorrow to meet with you. I'm sure the other Celestial Families will be doing the same, so be prepared."
"Why would they want to meet with me? What is their purpose?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"There's only one reason why these big families would want to approach you— they want to recruit you into their family," she said.
And she continued, "That's how these families continue growing faster. If you're lucky, you might even be able to marry into their family."
"Marry into their family…?" Leo repeated in a low voice.
Inside his head, he imagined joining the Light Family and getting married to Camille. Then he recalled that she had left her family so that wouldn't happen.
"I'm surprised that they're willing to accept me into their family, considering how bad my reputation is right now." Leo asked a moment later.
"Your reputation? You may not know this, but you're the main topic in the whole city right now." Camille said.
"Really? Is it because of my performance during the tournament?"
"That's right."
"What do you think I should do? What are the benefits of joining them?"
"First of all, you will only be able to join one family unless you receive approval to join another. The benefits are vast, but there are also cons. The most obvious benefit would be protection. If you join one of the Celestial Families, you will naturally be protected by them so people will be less likely to mess with you."
"Another benefit is that you'll get their support, whether it be financial support or something else, almost like how an Adventurer is supported by their sponsor."
"Also, you could get to learn special magic spells available only to their family."
"However, all of this benefit comes with a major disadvantage, and that is you'll have your freedom restricted, not to mention the strict family rules that you'll have to abide by."
"If I were in your shoes, I probably won't join any family at the moment. You're still too young and inexperienced. The benefits may seem great at first, but knowing your character, you'll probably hate all of the restrictions."
"If you're seeking protection, the Four Witches Academy will be enough for now."
"I see…" Leo digested all of this information with a pondering face.
"Is that why you left the Light Family? Because they're too restrictive?" He suddenly asked.
"Something like that, I guess."
"Anyways, I will be with you tomorrow when the Celestial Families come. They'll probably be pressuring you to join their family, so I will be there just in case."
"Thank you, Miss Camille." He nodded.
The following day, Leo went to the auditorium with Eve for the gathering, and just like the gathering after the Wilderness Training Course, Eve spoke about the participants' achievements and how proud she was of them. Furthermore, the 8 participants were given a prestigious badge for their achievement.
The gathering lasted for about an hour.
After dismissing the students, Eve approached Leo and said to him, "I forgot to tell you this earlier, but the Celestial Families will be coming here later today to speak with you."
He nodded, "I am aware. Miss Camille told me yesterday."
"Do you plan on joining any of them?" She then asked.
"Probably not, but it's not a bad idea to keep an open mind. If the conditions are right, I just might."
"That's a good mindset. However, I must warn you about the Scarlet Family. They might be up to no good because of what happened between you and their little princess."
A bittersweet smile appeared on Leo's face as he spoke, "They won't go as far as attacking me, will they?"
"I will also be there to protect you, so you don't need to worry about such things. Also, while you're on school grounds, they cannot attack you, or they will be punished severely, regardless of their background and influence, so the chances of them attacking you are slim to none. Though, they will probably threaten you."
"I'm used to being threatened." Leo chuckled.
Leo returned to his room shortly after.
Not long later, Camille showed up before him and said, "The Thorns Family is here. They're waiting for you in the Headmistress' office."
"I understand."
He followed Camille to the office.
Inside the office were two individuals— Eve and the representative from the Thorns Family, both of them sitting before each other on the couch with a cup of tea in their grasp.
The representative from the Thorns Family placed her teacup down and turned to look at Leo with an enchanting smile on her face, "I've been waiting for this moment since I witnessed your performance at the tournament, Leo Magnus."