Chapter 22

Arhh!!!

They clashed and the whole barrier trembled, the Sect Master struck down dispelling the force of their attacks.

After that had been done everything returned back to normal...

 This battle would be continued on a later.

Lady Chen began to explain the rules of the sect to all the young intakes.

"You will also be examined every year in those courses and, if the results won't be satisfying, you will be requested to abandon that subject. You will still be able to attend it but it will cost you some Credits."

Lady Chen stopped speaking for a moment before resuming in her explanation.

"You must also complete a mission for the Sect every two months. There is a large board on the right side of the river where you can find all the tasks that you can complete. Being successful in a mission will grant you merit points that you can exchange for techniques, materials, or weapons. These services will be open for you after you undergo the test of your nature."

"Lastly, any Elder can choose a disciple and take him just like I've done with Lucinda. It is a great honor so be sure to shine in your respective fields."

Lady Chen spoke pointed to a building on the right side of the river.

"Go in that structure and obtain your academy token together with a book containing the regulations and the other details of the academy. Your lodgings will also be decided there. Remember to visit the board to know the calendar of the courses, your lessons start tomorrow."

Lady Chen gestured to the group to disperse and the students bowed before going in the direction pointed by her.

The environment was peaceful and the density of "Breath" was high, there were small bridges on the river to facilitate its crossing.

In a few minutes, the students of the Grayshade class arrived in front of the structure.

Before someone crossed its entrance though, a voice sounded from inside it.

"The twenty-five with the highest battle prowess first."

Those that had passed the test entered the building, Sara and Aldophus were among them of course.

A big hall unfolded in front of them and, at the end of it, a desk was placed with an old woman writing something on a paper.

She raised her look and spoke.

"The strongest among you can come forth."

The students turned to look at Lucinda and Aldophus.

'So much for laying low.'

She sighed and then moved toward the desk.

"Place your hand on this tablet and read these words loud and clear."

She pointed at a marble tablet with inscriptions on it while handing her a small sheet.

'Never reveal the location of the academy, the secrets of the academy, the activities of the academy, the teachings of the academy….'

An oath was written on it which basically prevented him to speak of anything regarding the academy to outsiders.

Lucinda found it reasonable and made the vow while placing her hand on the tablet.

A rune attached itself to her skin and then was absorbed by it.

'I wonder what kind of after-effects do you have if you break the oath.'

It was already her second one but she still didn't know what would happen if she didn't follow its restrictions, she simply had a very bad sensation about it.

The woman nodded.

"Name?"

"Lucinda."

After a few seconds, she handed her a token with her name written on it.

"Bind it with your mental energy. I already assigned you the first empty room toward the source of the river. Here is your book with all the required information about the academy."

Lucinda received the token and the book but could not help to have some doubts.

"What is the difference between the source and the end of the river?"

She answered briefly.

"The concentration of "Breath" is higher on the source."

At her words, Lucinda understood why she divided the students.

'They want to nourish the already strong ones. It makes sense.'

The powerful gets everything while the weak is blamed, that rule was set in stone in that world.

Lucinda exited the building while she bound the academy token.

Immediately, a map of the academy was projected in his mind with all its various buildings and their functions.

A small spot on the map was glowing with a red color.

'That one should be my room.'

He put everything back in her space-ring and moved in the direction of her lodging.

She decided to give a look to the board first since it was on the same side of the river of her accommodation.

There was no one on the streets of the academy and, when she arrived at the board, a large square appeared in hee sight.

At its center, a large wooden panel was erected with tens of different tablets affixed on it.

Lucinda inspected the contents of the various missions before finding the tablet regarding the courses of his class.

'These tasks have a lot of requirements. Apprentice alchemist, beginner inscriber, rank 2 dantian. They all seem important assignments.'

Since she still didn't know the value of the merit points, he didn't bother to look at them and just memorized the calendar of the courses.

Then, she went toward her lodging.

After walking for a few minutes, she arrived in front of a small house.

There were many like that one along all the right side of the river, Lucinda was sure that she had spotted more than five hundred of them.

She checked again on the map and confirmed that it was his house.

Lucinda neared the token to the door and a mechanical sound came from it.

The door opened at Lucinda's push and its insides were shown to her.

There were two rooms inside, one with a big and comfortable bed and another one with a bathtub.

It was very simple in its furniture but Lucinda appreciated the absence of useless things.

The density of "Breath" was more than twice the one outside the forest which made Sara quite happy about her location.

She sat on the bed and took out the book with the regulations and began to read it.

She would nod from time to time while the remaining pages to read diminished.

After she read through all the book, she sorted the most important information in her mind.

'I can't kill or gravely injure other students but small fights are allowed. The enrollment to the academy lasts till you are twenty years old, after that you need to apply for a position and pass a test if you want to remain in this space. I will think about the other information after I have an idea of the techniques that I can obtain here.'

It was still the middle of the afternoon so Lucinda decided to rest before waking up at night to resume her cultivation.

Lucinda opened her eyes, stopping her cultivation.

It was dawn and she had to attend her first lesson.

A wide smile was on her face due to the results of his meditation.

'This is great! Cultivating here is way more profitable, I might be able to break another seal in less than one year at this pace.'

The density of "Breath" was high and that affected the speed at which it was absorbed in the dantian.

She had already cultivated for sometime so her advancements were not small.

Now that he lived in an environment where the "Breath" was so dense, it was no wonder that the time required for the breakthrough would diminish.

'I wonder how the concentration is at the source of the river. Well, I should probably get going, today there is the lesson about general cultivation.'

She took a bath and exited her lodging, moving toward the other side of the river.

The right area of the academy was assigned to the students while the left one was for courses and special training zones.

Along the way, she saw the other students of the Grayshade class walking in the same direction.

They all had radiant smiles and seemed eager to reach the building where the lesson would occur.

"This place is amazing, isn't it?"

Yaoyao appeared behind her.

She had large eyebags but her figure was brimming with excitement.

'This maniac probably trained for the whole night.'

She then realized that he had done the same thing and cursed internally.

'Why is she so friendly anyway. I'm not exactly the most approachable person in here.'

Sara rarely smiled in public and when she did that, it was a fake one.

Her cold aura always accompanied her, scaring away most of those around her.

However, there seemed to be exceptions in the academy.

The Eeggi siblings spotted Lucinda and joined her in hers walk. These were twins who had participated and were part of the new intake disciples.

They began to speak with Yaoyao about the environment in the academy and their preferred courses.

However, Yaoyao was quite reserved when she spoke with them, she didn't seem too experienced in human relationships.

"What about you, Lucinda?"

The three turned to look at Lucinda when the red-haired man asked the question.

His name was Ford, Lucinda had learned it during their trip on the air-ship.

'Are they talking about my courses? How should I know, I barely know anything apart from the centers of power.'

Lucinda shrugged her shoulders and gave a short answer.

"Those that increase my battle prowess."

They were a bit surprised.

Yaoyao nodded and her battle intent was aroused but Ruth rebuked a bit.

"There are way more applications to the "Breath" than simply using it to fight! Inscriptions can create marvels like the flying ship and improve the daily life of everyone. Alchemy can create potions to deter magical beasts from invading the human territory! Using this wonderful energy only to cause more violence is a waste!"

Ruth seemed really invested in this topic but Sara had a different view of things.

'A life where all humans are forced to be similar to each other in their mediocrity is only possible in a world with no external threats. And even there, humans will find a way to create more conflicts.'

She had understood the human's nature, her mind was broadened by the experiences from her childhood till date.

She continued to look in front of her toward the nearing appointed building while she answered in a cold tone.

"All those things are useless if you die due to your weakness."

Ruth was stunned by her answer but Yaoyao and Ford were of a similar view.

She was about to reply when they reached the structure where their first lesson had to occur.

"This conversation is not over."

Ruth said running toward the entrance.

Her brother followed while Yaoyao remained with Lucinda looking at the figures of the Eeggi siblings speeding in the distance.

She spoke with a soft voice while her expression became dark.

"She is so naïve."

Lucinda could not help but nod slightly.

The building was two-story-tall and, on the ground floor, it had a large room full of seats.

The seats encircled a small desk where Megan Iccek was sitting.

She had her eye closed and her legs crossed, she seemed quite peaceful contrasted to her attitude when she first appeared to the students.

It took the youths a few minutes to place themselves on the chairs.

When the last one arrived, she opened her eye and stood up while speaking with a loud voice.

"Today I will do a general overview of the known information about cultivation, I believe that many of you are already aware of the topics that I will discuss."

The student's attention was attracted and they listened quietly.

"You are all cultivators so you are aware of the three centers of power and of many of their qualities but for the sake of this lesson I need to review them."

"The sea of consciousness is a projection of your mind, it represents your mental processes and can influence any aspect of your daily life, from your thinking speed to the focus in your actions."

"The dantian is the organ that stores the "Breath" and nourishes your essence. Raising its level will increase your lifespan and empower the abilities that use it. It is also what indicates your rank as a cultivator since its effects are more evident overall."

"The body is the shell that allows you to contain that much power. Increasing its level not only will prolong your life, but it will also allow you to raise the rank of the other two centers of power. If your body is weak, it will not be able to contain the "Breath", stopping your advancements as cultivators."

"The body is also the easier center of power to train and its rank should always be the highest compared to your mind and dantian."

"However, things aren't so easy when we talk about ranks above the third. For example, has any of you seen a rank 4 magical beast?"

Some of the students nodded and a few of them stole glances in Lucinda's direction when they saw that she remained still.