The Great Palace of Eternal Spirits (1)

The group of students walked alongside the instructor and the vassal, and eventually, they made it to the Great Lord's Grand Palace, his abode.

It was massive, much bigger and taller than even the tallest building on Earth, and to Nathan, it looked like a huge, sophisticated pile of metal shaped into a magnificent building, towering over everything.

The guards, who were in full armor, saw them, and the sight of the vassal immediately allowed them entry into this esteemed palace.

"Wow.. it kinda feels like I'm royalty or something," Nathan said, "This is pretty exhilarating."

The four of them agreed, and it seemed like they were all also pretty excited too.

"Here we are."

They had finally made it to the Lord's Throne Room, and the students were instructed to stand outside in the Grand Hall, while the Instructor and the vassal went in.

"I wonder what kind of currency they use to buy things here," Thomas said, "They have advanced technologies that even I can't understand, so they probably have a different kind of currency that they use on a daily basis."

"Wait, does that mean that I can't buy anything here?"

"Nope, I guess that'll stop you from going on a shopping spree in a while."

"That sucks." Athena said, and sulked, as the light in her eyes dulled a bit.

"Is shopping really that important for you?" Nathan asked, "I mean.. I don't even have any money on me at all."

"You don't have any money?"

"No, I'm not familiar with the currency you use on a daily basis." He answered truthfully.

"You mean the spaceship's currency, Hiruia? I can tell you."

"Core Crystals are a currency, and also the official currency of many spaceships and spacecrafts travelling around the Astro Sea, which is located in this galaxy, and where we are right now."

"Core Crystals, however, can be gained by hunting powerful beasts all around the galaxy."

"…Interesting," He said, "Do you guys know anything about this academy?"

"I think I do have a bit of information." Luna replied, "This academy, was once known as a school in the top ranks, and was once known all over the galaxy, with people always trying to get their child a place in the school, but it's reputation vanished soon after."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I have heard a rumour that it was because of the ongoing war between planets, and they're still trying to keep up their prestigious appearance."

"Hm.. so why was the Nathan here so adamant about joining this academy, could it have been possible that he didn't know that the academy's reputation had collapsed?" Nathan wondered.

"Oh yeah, by the way, I've been meaning to ask something.. do you have a crush on her?"

Athena pointed at Luna, who, alongside Dean, were oblivious to the conversation at the moment.

"What!?!" He said, flustered and confused, he had never once looked at Luna in that kind of way, as he alway saw her as his friend, even back on Earth, and he quickly denied that accusation.

Athena laughed, and whispered something in Thomas's ear, and his expression turned grim.

"Thomas.. what did she say to you?"

"She.. she said.. you two probably had.." He gulped, clearly not used to hearing such things from Athena, and neither was Nathan.

Nathan looked like he was seconds away from bursting, even before he had said anything.

"I lost the bet..!" Athena said, "Ugh.. but still.."

Athena had nearly exploded into laughter, alerting everyone in the Grand Hall, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw that Nathan had fainted from the distress that she caused him.

However, it was only for a few seconds, and he woke up.

"Don't worry, it's a joke!" She said, but Nathan wasn't satisfied, "Don't kill me!" She said, slight sarcasm in her voice.

"Huh? What's going on, you two?" Luna and Dean had both started to involve themselves in the conversation.

"Nothing..!" Nathan replied before Athena could say a word.

"Hah.."

Mere moments after, a small group of four people approached them.

"So, you're the one called Nathan," A male with long, black hair said, "I saw your battle with that blood manipulator earlier, that was impressive."

"You must've reached at least Stage One of [Understanding Unity] to be able to have such power, yet I can't feel any kind of aura from you."

"You must've already mastered your ability and how to utilise your aura," He said, "I hope we can get along well."

"You're over praising me, in fact.." He stopped mid-sentence, as telling him about how he got his power from a relic that a Celestial gave him, might get the relic eventually stolen from him.

"Haha! I hope we can continue to have conversations like this." He said, and he glanced elsewhere, and smirked, just before him and the rest of his group walked away.

Nathan knew that he was only speaking to him because of his power, since they were probably another group of people who thought he was a lunatic before he had shown his remarkable talent, but he knew that this was much better than making enemies with others.

He turned around, slightly annoyed by that realisation, only to find out that Dean gritting his teeth and clutching his fist until it bled.

"Nathan.. I didn't know you knew the son of the commander of the Stara Fatar Spaceship, the person who has brought ruin onto many worlds and many planets," Dean said, referring to the person Nathan just spoke to.

"Huh?"

"I have history with that man, and his son as well."

"Dean.." Nathan said, "Don't worry, I don't really know him at all, and since you helped me once, I'll help you, by.. by challenging him to a fight!"

"Wait.. Nathan..! You don't need to go that far! You can't fight him just yet, he has just reached Stage Two of Understanding Unity, and you would need at least three Stage Ones to deal with him..!" Luna said.

"Huh, then maybe I was a little too rash just then, but still, I hope I'll be able to help Dean get his revenge on him."

"..Thanks."

"By the way, do you guys know what these "Stages" refer to?" He asked, unknowing to what they meant by "Stages".

"Stages.. they are how all humans measure their understanding of their power and ability," Luna said, "With their understanding, they can utilise their ability more, and they can even reach a point where they can manipulate their abilities however they wish."

"You could say that Understanding Unity is First Fundamental Stage, and there are nine smaller Stages in every Fundamental Stage that separate how powerful some people in the Understanding Unity Stage are compared to others."

"When you master the First Fundamental Stage, you reach the Second Fundamental Stage. There are Eleven Fundamental Stages currently, as the strongest person alive right now was the first person to reach the Eleventh Fundamental Stage."

"Woah."

"Haha, it's definitely a lot to take in, but you'll understand it soon, especially with that amazing talent of yours!"

"What the!" He yelped in surprise, somehow someone was able to surprise him from behind, yet no one had alerted him beforehand.

Nathan turned around, and behind him he saw a feisty, red-haired female grinning excitedly, in her eyes you would only able to see blazing flames, which perfectly encapsulated her personality, but Nathan didn't know that just yet.

"You're cool!" She said, "You're definitely a contender."

"A contender? For what?" He said, as she slowly approached closer and closer.

"..To be able to fight me in a real battle!" She said excitedly, as she pounced on him.

"You're pretty weak right now, but as soon as you've reached Stage Three, come and fight me!"