Becoming The Strongest Using My Would-You-Rather System!-Chapter 60 - Westridge University

Theo’s attention instantly shifted away from the reward money.

’’What?’’ he asked, tilting his head slightly.

The Association Head smiled, still stroking his beard.

’’I’ve put in a good word with a friend of mine,’’ he said calmly. ’’He’s a teacher at Westbridge University in New York.’’

Theo’s eyes widened hearing that name.

Westbridge was the very best university in the United States, known for making up nearly seventy percent of the nation’s team in the world college tournament.

Each of its graduates has a minimum of a gold core at age twenty-three, but a large majority reaches the platinum core directly.

’’He was quite interested after hearing your ages and what you’ve accomplished so far,’’ Joop continued. ’’If either of you are interested in joining the university... all they need are your affinities to see if you qualify for pre-admissions.’’

He paused for a moment.

’’Because based on your current accomplishments... you younglings can get in without problems.’’

Owen, who’d barely recovered from the shock of the rewards, looked at the Association Head with another incredulous look.

Theo, on the other hand, blinked once.

’’...College, huh,’’ he mumbled.

The thought hadn’t crossed his mind even once after the incident with David.

Sure, it would be nice to speed up his growth because of a major school sponsorship.

But—

Remembering the principal’s attitude back then had left him with no doubts that others would be the exact same.

’Except those people will be a lot stronger than me,’ he thought. ’And there won’t always be a random woman that comes to my rescue.’

And... was a university’s sponsorship truly needed when he had his system to back him up?

After a moment of silence, Theo let out a soft sigh.

’’I’ll have to think about it.’’

Joop raised an eyebrow, staring at him with clear surprise.

’’You’re hesitating?’’ he asked.

Theo didn’t answer immediately, his mind still churning on it.

Seeing that, Joop leaned back slightly in his chair, letting out a quiet breath.

’’I see,’’ he said calmly.

He studied Theo for a moment before continuing.

’’Let me put it differently,’’ he said. ’’Westbridge isn’t just some university. It’s the best in the entire country.’’

His tone stayed calm and neutral, even smiling kindly as he looked at them.

’’The level of training there... the people guiding it... it’s something you simply won’t find elsewhere.’’

Owen listened closely now, his earlier excitement slowly fading away and turning into focus.

Joop’s gaze shifted between the two of them, raising two of his fingers.

’’It also gives you access,’’ he said, putting one finger down. ’’Some resources aren’t available to the outside world, like techniques, cultivation resources... things that can accelerate your growth far beyond what you can do on your own.’’

Theo couldn’t help but look down for a moment as he thought about it some more.

’He is right about the resources and training,’ he thought. ’I might have an insane spell manual already... but just one spell won’t cut it. And resources aren’t something I can afford at all.’

If he was going to grow stronger, he needed several other spells to fill his arsenal and resources to maintain his cultivation speed..

Seeing that Theo clearly wasn’t completely convinced yet, Joop added one final sentence.

’’And the university will also protect you from the Calamity Covenant coming for you.’’

Theo’s head snapped up immediately, a frown on his face.

For the first time since the conversation started, his expression changed.

’’...What do you mean?’’ he asked.

The old man smiled faintly.

’’Not only did you interfere with their missions,’’ he said. ’’You also accomplished a nearly impossible deed in doing so.’’

Both Owen and Theo went completely silent.

Joop tapped his finger on the table as he locked eyes with them.

’’After all, how many people do you think are capable of killing a silver core mage and a D-rank creature just a month after awakening?’’

The question lingered in the air, neither Owen nor Theo needing to answer.

’He’s not wrong,’ Theo thought, glancing down. ’If they think about it for even a second, it won’t be hard to make an assumption about my affinity’s grade.’

That assumption would either be an S-rank affinity, which is already incredibly rare, or an SSS-rank which only a handful of people awaken in the country.

Once they knew that... there was no way they wouldn’t make him a target of some kind.

Suddenly, Owen leaned forward, slapping his hands on his knees.

’’I mean... that just makes it even more obvious, right?’’ he said, glancing at Theo with a grin that slowly returned to his face.

Theo snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

’’We might as well take the better option,’’ Owen continued, grinning. ’’Training, resources, protection... I don’t see a downside here.’’

Theo didn’t respond immediately.

After a few seconds, he finally let out a quiet breath.

’’...Alright,’’ he said calmly. ’’You can send it.’’

’And if it doesn’t work the way I want it to,’ he thought, ’I’ll just leave and continue on my own path.’

Hearing their reactions, Joop leaned back in his chair and folded his hands together.

’’Good,’’ he said, smiling again. ’’Now, if you could tell me the real grade of your affinities...’’

Owen scratched the back of his head, glancing sideways at Theo.

’’...We’re not completely sure ourselves,’’ he said honestly. ’’We were actually about to go get it tested.’’

Joop’s brows knitted together slightly at that.

’’I don’t need to know the exact mutation,’’ he said. ’’Just the real overall grade.’’

Owen didn’t hesitate this time.

’’Yeah... that’s kind of the problem,’’ he said, shrugging slightly. ’’We don’t have that either.’’

Theo remained silent beside him, but he didn’t deny it.

Owen scratched his cheek awkwardly.

’’We never really got a proper reading after everything happened,’’ he added. ’’So we figured we’d just go do it now.’’

Joop’s gaze lingered on the two of them, his expression turning slightly more serious.

’’You’re telling me... you defeated a silver core mage and a D-rank creature... without even knowing your own affinity grades?’’

Owen grinned, not the least bit embarrassed.

’’Sounds kinda stupid when you say it like that, but yeah.’’

For a brief moment, he simply stared at them, as if trying to figure out whether they were joking or not.

But in the end, he didn’t press them any further on it.

’’...I see,’’ he mumbled, a hint of confusion in his voice. ’’Then you should do that first.’’

Theo nodded once.

’’We’ll let you know the moment we figure it out,’’ he said, writing his number down on a card.

Without wasting any more time, the two of them stood up, bid their farewells, and walked out of the room.

As the door closed behind them, silence fell in the room.

Joop remained seated for a moment, his gaze lingering on the phone number.

Then, he let out a faint chuckle.

’’Strange kids,’’ he muttered under his breath.

Not knowing their own affinities or even what effects they had, yet still pulling something like that off.

’How did they even manage to hide it in school?’ he thought, narrowing his eyes. ’Is the staff there incompetent or something?’

After a brief pause, he let out a deep sigh and turned to look at the window.

A thoughtful look crossed his face before a small, pleased smile appeared.

’Anyway... if they really are super talented, the city’s officials might pay quite a bit for spotting them early,’ he thought. ’And if they make it far, they’ll remember this favor.’

His smile widened slightly, but remained soft as he looked over the city below.

’Now that’ll be quite worth it.’