Chapter 9

The crowd erupted at what they just heard.

"What did he just say!?"

"He said that Julian got C Class. That means he's the strongest out of the first years. He might be on par with a second year!"

"There has to be something wrong! Isn't he the same guy who could barely even use his ability? How did he get so strong?"

Albus cleared his throat and all of the students stopped talking to listen.

"Now that your exam is over and you have received your rankings, you will all be given a week to adjust with your new squads. I hope you are all comfortable with your squadmates, because you're stuck with them for the rest of the year."

Julian looked around at all the squads on the field. Most of them consisted of people who were in F Class with a few E Classes here and there.

What intrigued Julian the most was Arielle's squad. She had been ranked as a D Class, but everyone else in her squad was ranked in E Class. She didn't have a single F Class on her team.

'How is her luck so good?'

Julian was a little envious at first, but after taking a look at his own squad he got over it. He had been grouped with people he believed had great potential.

'I wonder...If I take them to that, will they get even stronger as I did?'

Julian put his thoughts away for now and listened to Albus.

"We've assigned each squad to different locations throughout the world for the sake of privacy. We want to make sure that each member can have the chance to freely speak with their squad without the eyes and ears of others. This is done so that tactics and abilities aren't out on display, and every squad is on equal footing to start out. You all will be leaving tomorrow, so go home and pack your bags. That is all."

"Sir!"

Albus left the stage as the students gave a salute.

After saying goodbye to Tom, Julian and his squad decided to grab a bite to eat before parting ways for the night. They stopped at a burger joint close to the academy since the monorail was also close by.

"Where do you think they'll be assigning us?"

Luna was excited thinking about the trip. In her eyes, it was just a free vacation.

"If I had it my way, we'd go to a beach in the Maldives."

Julian folded his arms and closed his eyes as he pictured the beautiful ocean and hot babes that the beach offered.

"You're such a perv."

Shio shook her head seeing the look on Julian's face.

"I'd rather go to Russia and train in the harsh environment."

Shio looked proud of her choice.

Luke heard Shio and felt a chill down his spine. He heard that Russia was freezing cold, and he wasn't too fond of snow.

"What about you, Iris?"

Luna looked at Iris who was sitting calmly beside Julian.

"Well...wherever Julian goes is the place I want to go."

She blushed a little as she spoke. Luna stared at her for a little bit before speaking again.

"Well, I want to go where Ju-ju wants, too."

The other 3 were keeping quiet. It seemed like there was tension in the air between the two girls.

Julian broke the awkward silence by asking Luke where he would like to go.

"Honestly, as long as everyone is happy, then it doesn't matter to me."

He was being honest, but he also didn't want to stir up any more trouble. Meanwhile, Iris was staring out the window, and Luna was sitting opposite her pouting. Julian almost laughed at the scene, but he managed to keep it in.

'This little trip should be fun.'

The group said their goodbyes and parted ways for the night. Luke had already packed and was staying at Julian's place for the night to begin his training.

They went to the roof of the building and Julian was pondering on which Martial Skill to teach him. However, before he picked one, he had to find out what was going on in Luke's body. He knew that he was an Achristo, but he needed to observe his aura pool to figure out which skill was better suited for him.

Julian placed his right hand onto Luke's head and channeled a little of his own aura into Luke's body. Luke could feel a weird sensation moving throughout each part of his body, and it felt uncomfortable at first but it slowly got better as his body adjusted to the foreign energy.

Inside Julian's mind, he could see Luke's aura pool. At first, everything seemed normal. It wasn't until he tried to pull his aura out that he found something wrong. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull his aura out of Luke's body. His body began draining Julian's own aura and started pulling it out of his aura pool directly.

'This can only mean one thing!'

Julian stopped trying to pull his aura out of Luke's body and instead forcefully shut off his own aura pool. His hand broke free from Luke's head and they both fell to the ground.

"What just happened! My body feels like it's on fire!"

Luke had a look of pain on his face as he laid on the ground.

"Don't worry. You're not in any danger. In fact, this is a good thing."

Luke looked up at Julian and felt conflicted.

'How could this pain be a good thing? I feel like I could die!'

"Don't worry. Let me deal with your pain and then I'll explain everything to you."

Julian pulled out a blank talisman and wrote a command to slightly numb the body. He placed it onto Luke's chest, and Luke felt instant relief in his body.

"I know you're probably confused right now, but just listen to everything I'm about to say."

Luke nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright. First off, let me ask you a question. Your mother died while giving birth, didn't she?"

Luke looked shocked. He looked down before answering.

"How did you know that?"

Julian sighed in relief and then continued.

"I didn't until just now. You see, when a person is in the womb, their aura pool is formed by siphoning off a portion of the mother's pool. Normally, this is also when alpha cells form. After they are born, the aura pool develops on its own as the child continues growing."

Luke was understanding everything so far. This was stuff they taught in grade school.

"However, everything I just said doesn't apply to you. Not because you're an Achristo, but because you have the Glutton's Curse."

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