5 Chapter 5 - The Red Stone

"Principal Choi, you don't have any rights to be standing here anymore. Please leave the stage and start packing up your things." Jeon Shi Yun says as he eyes the principal with pure hatred.

However, the principal flips the sleeves of his robe as he tries to regain his proud posture. "H-How dare you say that to me! There is no proof that I have agreed to the bet. But I will have to say sorry to her since I doubted her capabilities. She is indeed a worthy student in Mistwood Academy."

Right after saying those words, the students who have witnessed all of the happenings inside the pavilion started whispering with each other but enough for the principal to hear.

"How shameless! Seconds ago he was fully using his authority in order to expel the girl from the academy."

"What a load of sh*t. This principal is truly thick-skinned."

"How dare he feign innocence! My father would really be upset if he knew that our principal is as shameless as Principal Choi."

Upon hearing the students' disapproval the principal started feeling so embarrassed, to the point where he wanted the ground to swallow him right that instant. He had never expected something like this would happen to him, all because he challenged and belittled someone who turned out to be an amazing Mage. He should have never gone to see this entrance exam.

"Min Ji." Jeon Shi Yun says all of a sudden.

Park Min Ji who was watching the scene unfold before her, snapped out from her trail of thoughts when he heard Shi Yun call her. "Y-Yes?"

"I believe your father is the head of all the teaching academies in the entire kingdom, right?"

Min Ji, who still can't believe that Shi Yun is talking to her, couldn't do anything but nod. She may be a proud and powerful Mage but to her crush, she was a shy and messy girl who couldn't even form any words.

"Then, I would like to propose Miss Oh to be the next principal."

Hearing this, Miss Oh, who still can't process everything that has happened, looked at the young man in a daze. "M-Me? Why me?"

"It's best to choose the next principal as someone who has seen all of this in person. Plus, you are a great Mage and you can pass all the requirements in order to become the next principal. "

"I…" Miss Oh didn't know what to say as it was still so fast for her.

"How about I'll let you talk with my father with this, Miss Oh? He will surely know what to do." Park Min Ji began to say this as a way to help Jeon Shi Yun.

"Thank you, Min Ji." Jeon Shi Yun says. This instantly made the girl feel over the moon. "Now, Miss Oh, I think you should properly end the entrance exam."

"Oh right!"

After a while, the Examiner starts to announce the names of the 100 students who have completed all of the parts of the entrance exam. They were all called in front of the stage and vowed to fulfill their duties as formal students of the academy. Miss Oh also instructed them to go to the admission area so they could get their identification cards, as well as the keys to their assigned dorms.

Since she doesn't have any friends yet, Mi Young starts to walk towards the admission building alone. As soon as she gets out of the pavilion, she can already hear the whispers and comments about her from the people who have watched the entrance exam from the very start. Some comments were about how amazing she was while others were saying that she just made it because of pure luck.

Mi Young rolled her eyes at their comments and decided to ignore them since she knew there are still more important things to settle than arguing with these people.

However, while she was walking, Mi Young halts for a second when she realizes that she doesn't even know where she's going. The young lady scratches her head in confusion while trying to decide if she would take the path on her left or the one on her right.

She seemed to be contemplating for a long time because after a couple of minutes, an old looking man carrying a staff with him approached her.

"Are you lost, young lady?" The old man asks as he stands in front of the confused Mi Young.

"Un yes! Can you please tell me where the admission building is?" Mi Young answers as she eyes the old man. She gives him a once over and realizes that despite how old he looks, the old man still carries a very strong aura around him. Ignoring that, Mi Young focuses on finding the admission building.

"Since this young lady is indeed lost, how about I take you where the admission building is?"

Mi Young squints her eyes at the old man. He's acting suspicious. He heard countless stories from her father before to never agree to an old man offering to take you to a destination you want to. Probably hearing her thoughts, the old man smiled at her before waving his hand.

"Don't worry, I'm also supposed to go there."

"Not to be respectful sir but you are making yourself even more suspicious by saying that."

"Am I?" The old man looks genuinely confused as well and Mi Young feels bad for judging him. He puts his hands on his forehead and says, "I'm really getting so old I don't even know how to talk to young people these days."

Mi Young just looked at him weirdly before she sighs in defeat. "Fine. Let's go together then."

The old man's expression seemed to brighten up the moment Mi Young said those words and she's starting to regret her decision again but then she stops when the old man starts working towards where the admission building is.

"So why did you enroll in this academy?" The old man questions as they both start walking along the empty path.

Mi Young contemplated for a second before she answered, "It's a cool school."

That's the only thing she said because she knew she couldn't reveal to anyone what her true intention was.

The old man seems to know that she was hiding something but he chose to stay silent instead, which Mi Young truly appreciates.

Just then, when there was finally a comfortable silence between them, a loud roar echoed all throughout the sky.

Mi Young looks up but sees nothing. She was about to ask the old man if he also heard it but stops when she sees the old man was looking annoyed, for what reason, Mi Young doesn't know.

"I told him not to be so impatient!" The old man suddenly says, which startled Mi Young.

"You told who what?" Mi Young asks.

The old man sighs before he points at something along the road, "Follow that path there. At the end, you will see the admission building."

"What about you? I thought you wanted to go there as well?"

"I would love to but the dragon is being stubborn again." The old man answers while rolling his eyes. He looks disappointed at first but he casts Mi Young a childish smile, "Well, I guess we can talk and meet some other time. Enjoy your stay here!"

Mi Young just nods at the old man. And since she doesn't have anything to say anymore, she starts walking down the path where the old man pointed. But before she could finally leave, the old man called her. Mi Young looks at the old man before he hears him say, "Be careful. And I hope you achieve your true goal."

"T-Thanks." Mi Young says as she looks at the old man weirdly once more. She starts walking down the path and that's when she realized that she was already holding a red stone that she doesn't even possess. It also looks like the stone has forms of clouds swirling inside of it.

Mi Young doesn't know where she got it and how she was holding it because she knew she wasn't in possession of anything like that before. So she continues walking down the path until she finally reaches the admission building.

When Mi Young entered the building, almost all of the students, along with senior students, were already talking and befriending everyone. They also seem to be holding onto something that Mi Young couldn't see.

She then walked further into the crowd when one freshman spotted her until all eyes were on her. Mi Young can feel her face getting red with the attention.

"You there!" A voice suddenly blurts out. Mi Young searches for the source of the voice and she comes face to face with a man who was looking at her angrily. "Where is your payment? If you don't have any payment then you better leave the admission building."

"I—what? I was told to go here after the entrance exam—"

"I know. All freshmen students must pay the amount in order to get a room in the dormitories." The man says as he tucks his hands on his pocket while eyeing Mi Young with distaste. "Judging from the way you look, you don't look like someone who came from a wealthy family. You should belong to the F dorms."

"The F dorms? But that's the lowest of the low."

"I heard their beds are too hard and you can't sleep properly."

"Not to mention that everyone there is a bunch of losers as well."

"And their food is just something you can't quite understand."

"Poor girl. Despite her strong cultivation and rank, if you don't have enough money, you can't get a better dorm here."

"H-How much is the dorm then?"

"You have money?" The man asks.

Mi Young fishes out a couple of copper coins in her pocket and presents them to the man.

"Are you kidding me? With that amount of money you can't even join the F dorms."

"B-But I wasn't aware that we needed money in order to have a room—"

"Well then you will have to sleep in the hallways then!" The man says as he straightens his back. "You can't own a room unless you have money or a stone."

The man starts to walk out.

Upon hearing the word 'stone' Mi Young immediately remembers the red stone with swirling clouds in her hands earlier. She instantly fishes it out from her other pocket and stops the man from walking out.

"She's so desperate."

"Poor people are like that."

"What is she going to do now?"

"What now?" The man says, looking annoyed.

"I..I have a stone." Mi Young starts to say.

The man rolls his eyes at her. "You don't even have any gold coins, and now you're telling me you own a stone? Do you know how much a stone is? Even the violet color which is the lowest costs more than thousands of gold. If you have nothing better to say, go scram!"

"Here!" Mi Young says as she presents the red stone in front of the man.

The moment he saw the stone, the man came rushing towards Mi Young instantly. He looks like he saw something very valuable. "A r-red stone. Where did you get this?"

"An old man gave me this earlier." Mi Young says as she recalls that the only reason why she has this stone is because of that old man, I mean who else would give it to her?

"No matter who gave you this, it's still a red stone."

"Uhm? So can I get a room now?"

The man who was looking at him earlier with distaste and annoyance was now giving him a look like she was some kind of VIP or what. "Of course! You wouldn't only get a room but you will have the penthouse of the most luxurious dormitory here in our academy! Follow me here and you will get your keys as well as your ID."

Hearing the man's word, Mi Young just realizes how important that stone was. Good thing she didn't throw it away earlier or she would be sleeping on the streets.

As soon as the man and Mi Young left, everyone in the hall stared at one another. The people who started mocking her seem to slowly crept away from the crowd because of too much embarrassment. They should have never said those words earlier if they knew that it would bite them back much harder in return.

However, no matter how the crowd started talking about the top 1 student and her endless surprises, one young man was watching everything unfold before him with a look of interest.

He has finally found something to have fun with.