9 Ear-ing-loss
It was a day full of satisfaction to some but despair to others. News of the once trash of the Wen Branch Clan being accepted into the prestigious Westwood Glory Academy spread across the city like wildfire. Even long after they had departed to return to the Academy.
Verathragna naturally enrolled to the Academy as well by virtue of his companions. Two geniuses with their first Astral souls condensed from the 3rd Heavenly Layer was enough to dispel the examiner's previous ire due to the curses received from a junior. He was over the moon actually, Thankfully the news hadn't spread to the other powerful clans and such within the capital, even he would have not come to such a backwater place to conduct acceptance exams if not for him having passing by.
A genius who could condense an Astral soul from the 3rd heavenly layer, undoubtedly had great future prospects, a rarity in even the Westwood Glory Academy. And there were two of them !!! Seeing the good relationship between them and this silver haired young man, he could care less if the lad was the trashiest of wastes. He must treat these two geniuses like royalty.
The stalwart man, Geroff , decided to show his good will towards the two young men.
"Talented youngsters like you two are truly hard to come by and of great need in the Academy, especially since you two aren't from any major clans so our Academy will spare no effort in nurturing you. Here is a token of my goodwill."
He handed both of them a manual, It was a scroll containing many illustrations and ancient writing <The Elephant Rage Fist>. This was actually a innate technique. Receiving such a great technique, Shin Wen was undoubtedly happy.
He cupped his fists in a bow, "Many thanks esteemed teacher."
Hearing those words, Geroff couldn't help but chuckle feeling quite gratified. However, he noticed that Ren looked at the book for a second before handing him back. "I shall walk the path of Defense, such techniques are unsuited for my path."
Geroff caressed his beard, taken quite off guard by Ren's rejection. After some thought he realized that Ren was quite peculiar, Most youths are enamored with looking cool and desire fame and fortune, as such the choose attack type astral souls. Those youths thinking of their fighting style and weaknesses would condense a defense type astral soul to cover their defense but this was usually as their second astral soul and not the first.
"I see. If that is what you wish I shall not stop you. Our Academy has a variety of different techniques, defense included of course. It is a quite common auxiliary choice so we have quite the collection however few chose this as their main style as you have. Your path with undoubtedly be difficult as you won't have any attacking specialties so it duels, tournaments and the like you'll be at an disadvantage but in real life this is a life saving boon to you and your future compatriots. I wish you well."
This little incident caused Geroff to eliminate the thought of teaching Ren. He was well aware of his specialties and they had absolutely nothing to do with defense so he'd be harming the child's future if he persisted with his initial goal. Looking towards Shin however, he was satisfied. Shin was already practicing the technique on the back of the carriage, albeit with difficulty as they were moving at quite the high speed.
This carriage was a Rank Two Auxiliary Astral Gear. Astral gears could only be created by Astral spiritists so it was undoubtedly very rare and valuable. Even at high speed the inside of the carriage was unmoving, filled with lavish decorations, Shin Wen had not wishes to break anything and felt it was slightly impolite to practice in the others relaxing space; so he went outside the carriage helm. Unsurprisingly he came back soon realizing the difficulty, prompting soft chuckles from Geroff.
The academy had lent it to him for the mission he was coming back from. He had been sent to the Quell Forest which cut across this country and several others. It was filled with mystery, danger and opportunity. Home to many Powerful Beasts and even human hermits of great ability.
A storm seemed to brewing in its midst. Geroff furrowed his brows as he thought of the results of his investigation.
One day later.
They arrived at the entrance of the Westwood Glory Academy. There was actually no gates! This showed the overwhelming confidence they possessed in themselves after all who would dare trespass here, however there were several students acting as guards, It didn't take much brain power to guess it was a low paid job offered by the academy.
Receiving their badges, as proof of their identity as well as a few auxiliary uses as well; They attached it to their uniforms. The school issued uniforms to it's students and all first years were required to wear them. The senior students had the option but most chose not to.
The badge was like an irregular shaped leaf attached to a crest like wood both made of the rare Filoni alloy, a top grade level one astral crafting alloy. The leaf and crest seamlessly fused with each other. Only the Westwood Glory Academy and The Royals could afford to be this extravagant. Those old clans and sects did not have the accessibility, connections, reputation, and willing donors to support their powers. An academy was welcomed anywhere and many clans poured their resources into their descendants who attended the academies and helped it to prosper. In short there were many reasons for Westwood Glory Academy's wealth.
They donned their light green and whit uniforms with pride ( Shin )and indifference ( Who could that be ). Seeing the magical buildings, flowers, tamed beasts and the rest of the grounds; Shin Wen was awed.
"Amazing"
Geroff was right beside him and smiled looking at his reaction. Many commoner students were like this upon arrival. It wasn't a frequent occurrence however, as many nobles pumped resources into their children sending them here. The academy was accommodating towards commoner students when it came to resources as there were many otherwise menial tasks to earn yuan meteor stones; albeit a little slowly, and before the rules all were equals.
"Haha, come now. There are a few more formal procedures to take care off."
Geroff looked beside him only to find the figure of Ren absent. He hurriedly looked around.
"A truly great academy, the rare jest lotus can actually carry humans ...ah...this is quite the luxury... how soft."
A silver haired figure laid backwards on the lotus of the Academy's Great Pond, nodding off. Although called a pond it was the size of a lake, around the 1000 meters in circumference. Ren stood beneath a tree, watching his leader while simultaneously holding a lush, apple red flower. The flower gave off a tempting food fragrance- Ren is showing signs of being a foodie, to be confirmed- he nibbled on the flower trying to decided if it was 'meh' , intriguing or just edible.
"..."
"..."
Geroff and Shin witnessed their behavior.
"Are they always like this?"
"To be honest I don't know them that well..haha"
Shin replied to Geroff's question with some nervous laughter. Here he was admiring the Academy's majesty and those two were indulging themselves in 'abnormal' preferences.
"Ren, we should get to the other procedures."
Walking up to Ren, Geroff stated with a nervous smile of his own. To which Ren simply turned to him and asked," Is it urgent?"
"No...but.."
"Then it can wait"
Geroff suddenly broke into a genuine smile. This was the first time he'd encountered such behavior, these two were both of an enigmatic species. Shrugging, he left with," As you wish. Let's go Young Wen."
Shin Wen hurriedly caught up to him, fulfilling the procedures without a hitch. The academy was divided into the: Weapons Pavilion, Medical Quarters, Living Quarters subdivided into the different years, Teachers Area, Training Area, Classroom Buildings, Herbal Fields, Beast Garden, Library, and several other important buildings.
The Dome of the Heavenly Layers is one such feature. It mimicks the pressure felt on the various heavenly layers.
Westwood Glip Tower was made of of 9 levels and contained various innate and cultivation techniques along with recordings of cultivation insights from previous generations.
In this place Genius Cultivators were like sand in the sea.
"Senior Sister, why can't you accept my sincerest feelings for you. I truly love you!!!"
"Is that the best pickup lines you can think of Ortus, We barely even know each other. I decline, please stop bothering me."
A breathtakingly beautiful belle with slender limbs and a ripe figure stood at the edge of the central pond gazing to the distance. A handsome man with a tall figure and swordlike brows stood behind here while trying to woo her.
The starlight shimmered on the pond creating a beautiful scene of glittering water and shiny plants on the rippling water surface. All seemed to be bestowed with starlight. The young man referred to as Ortus continued to use flowery words to woo her but she blew him off.
Suddenly a low grunt was heard. Alerted by the sound, they both looked sideways to find someone rubbing the top of his head.
"What a thick tree branch, if i hadn't refined my body that might've really hurt."
An ordinary branch could obviously not hurt a Cultivator and why would a precious tree that could achieve such a thing be here in the open.
The light of the night sky illuminated that person's face. Thin finger length hair with a slight curl, silvery demonic pupils and a charming face shape. He was evidently a new student judging from the uniform and he gave off a mysterious vibe.
Just like an expert would have an expert air, a lawman would have a righteous air and a holyman having a holy air and so on and so forth.
Their gazes met.
"My apologies for interrupting you, dear couple."
Tapping Ortus on his shoulder, he continued," I wish you good luck in your art of romance my friend."
"Ah thanks"
Ortus didn't know what to say to this junior student who appeared out of nowhere. He was already a third year at the Seventh level of Arterial Circulation. However the target of his wooing did have a few words to say,
"There is no 'romance' nor is there a couple. I implore to choose your words wisely."
She coldly spat.
"My, my, how fiery. Good luck on whatever it is you two are doing out alone at night by yourselves."
"I said we were....!!!"
She didn't get to finish when Verathragna just walked away while waving- that girl is evidently quite childish having such a large reaction- V had long since considered himself not apart of the younger generation. His attitude was one reason: if someone said let's fight, he'd just ignore them. He was exposed to war first and preferred to terminate all enemies.
Simplicity was best sometimes. If they are an enemy, they die, in case they are willing to submit, they live. He could forsake this rule of his if it came down to it though, It isn't worth having if you can't give it up.
But how could they let him go so easily, It.wasn't a perfect world. Ortus saw his prospective woman's displeasure and decided to get V to apologize. He had tried so long and hadn't made any progress, if he created goodwill with her by getting this stranger to apologize, How great would that be!
"Friend, I must ask you to apologize to her."
Ortus utilized a movement technique and appeared before V in an instant. However to his surprise V walked right past him. Displeased from being ignored, his voice became forceful,
"How dare you ignore me while I'm speaking to you, I think I should teach you some manners!!!"
He swiftly blasted out a wave of qi, disdaining to use a technique on a first year. Little did he know, his attack was expected. V hadn't the speed to avoid the attack completely so he avoided the full force by jumping a distance and focusing his strength and Sword Sense on a portion of the attack.
Swoosh.
Swiss.
Just like that a blade cut through Ortus's qi. But it wasn't enough. A portion of the attack collided with him and injured his right hand.
"Hmph, you dodged. Be grateful I held back just then or you'd be....."
Suddenly, his contemptuous words came to a halt and he robotically lifted his hands to his left ear. It felt warm..... Feeling the viscous fluid and realizing it's red color after looking at his hand, he froze.
"Dead"
V finished his words for him while smiling.
Astonishingly, this first year had...had cut his ear off just now!! If Ortus had not let his guard down and looked down on V, this might not have occurred. Any other person in V's shoes couldn't pull it off. Ortus was a realm and a few levels higher than him in Cultivation. So the reason Ortus is missing an ear?
1) V is an experienced 'human' killer. He knows weak points, habits that they themselves don't notice and much more than comes with experience.
2) Sword Sense, he couldn't fully utilize it but the combined force of his muscle strength and comprehension broke through Ortus's strike and cut his ear off.
3) He didn't not utilize his full strength: it's not his fault. Who would in his shoes? A genius of the third years versus a first year. This was a huge difference in cultivation. And even on the same level, who in their right mind randomly attacks a stranger with 100% power?
4) Astral soul: need it be said, 6 and 2/3 , which is bigger?
