First Class

The students were granted 2 days to relax before the official enrollment ceremony. During those 2 days, news about the entrance exam spread throughout the land. The feats of Jonathan Hopkins are now known to all the influences in the continent. When asked about losing to Jonathan Hopkins, Prince Edward Solomon did not provide any comment.

Two days later, the enrollment ceremony began. The new students lined up in the ceremony hall and placed in the order of their ranks. The first in line was Jonathan Hopkins followed by Edward Solomon and so on.

"I hereby congratulate all of you for succeeding in the entrance exam. You are here because you defeated your peers with your talents and intelligence. The Imperial Academy will do its utmost to foster and protect you throughout your time here. Only those who are at the top of their generation will receive the greatest support from the academy."

The headmaster of the academy, Steven Bochner, gave the ceremony enrollment speech. He looked like an old man with long white beard and frail figure. If he walked on the streets, nobody would notice him. Behind that frail figure is a terrifying strength that everyone in the continent expected. It is rumored that Steven was at the legendary great emperor cultivation realm. Since Steven had never fought anyone openly for the past 100 years, no one could confirm the rumor.

"The academy will support you in whatever endeavor you choose to pursue. As you guys already know, the cultivation world also needs artisans, alchemists, doctors, chefs, rune masters, and so on. Though cultivation should remain as your highest priority in the academy, you should not lack in other essential skills that will benefit you for life." Steven continued the speech.

"Sky is the limit here at the Imperial Academy. Please enjoy your time here while you can" Steven concluded the speech and walked off the stage. All the students clapped and began to wait for their uniforms.

Few moments later, the uniforms were brought out to the students. The boy uniform was black pants, white dress shirt, black tie, and a jacket with the Imperial Academy symbol on it, a golden griffin. The girl uniform was black skirt, white blouse, white tie, and a jacket with the Imperial Academy symbol on it as well.

The students were escorted back to their respective dorm rooms. Each student has his or her own dorm room at the Imperial Academy. The lower ranked student would live in a small dorm room while the higher ranked students live in luxurious suites. Bruce didn't mind his small dorm room because he went through a lot over these past 3 months. He had to sleep on the ground most nights.

By now his parents should have received news that he got into the Imperial Academy. He explicitly told Lisa to not go search for him directly after he left. If his family wants to find out his status, just look up who got into the Imperial Academy and look for Bruce Pendragon. Now that he's finally at the Imperial Academy, Bruce can turn back into his lazy self and relax for a while. No dangers will come to him except during the yearly exams.

One week passed by and it was time for Bruce to officially take the classes at the Imperial Academy. At the academy, one can find hundreds of different classes taught by experts across the continent. Most students chose to take lessons in swordsmanship or specialized elemental classes. Bruce chose to take classes in artisans and runes.

There are countless of elemental skills in this world and Bruce felt it was a waste of time to learn all those skills. What matters is the strength and the control one has over their elemental affinities. If Bruce wanted to create a sea of fire, he can. If Bruce wanted to freeze everything around him, he can. His mastery over the elements far surpassed his peers and even some teachers at the academy.

Bruce's plan in the academy was to learn about other professions such as artisans and runes so that he could empower and create his own weapons.

Bruce walked into his first class and found it empty. The teacher came into the classroom and waited for more students to come in. At the Imperial Academy, a class will be cancelled if it doesn't have more than one student. The teacher looked worried as his first class was about to be cancelled. However, another student walked into the classroom which saved the day.

"Thank you for joining me in this class. I will be your instructor in Culinary Essentials"

Yup, Bruce wanted to learn about cooking so he decided to take a class on it. None of the food that he had eating over the past 3 months could compare to Lisa's cooking. He wanted to cook his own food and enhance the flavors to the pinnacle in this relaxed environment. Plus, the class should be stress free and allow Bruce to socialize with the opposite gender. A truly perfect class for him.

"Bro, are you here for cooking as well" Bruce asked the student who just walked in the room.

"Yeah.. I thought all the girls would be in here…" The student replied while looking for other girls.

"….."

"It's just us two boys it seems" Bruce also wanted to meet some girls in this class. It's such a shame that no one else showed up.

"Should we ditch the class?" The other student asked Bruce.

"I'd rather not. The teacher looked like he was about to cry when no one else but me showed up" Bruce felt pity for the teacher.

"It must suck for him, being a cooking teacher in the Imperial Academy" The other student was glancing at the instructor while talking to Bruce.

"Yeah… He doesn't seem that good looking either so he must be using his food to lure women" Bruce's whisper was heard by the teacher.

"I don't know if he can lure women with just his food with those looks. He may also put something inside the food…"

"YOU BRATS!"

The teacher released his aura to Bruce and the other student. Surprisingly, the teacher was a Divine Emperor.

'What the hell, are divine emperors that common in the Imperial Academy? It's like everyone here is a divine emperor!' Bruce internally thought.

"You may have the honor to call me Chef John in this class. In the outside world, I'm known as John the Butcher" John held up his knife and sliced the metal table in half.

"If you two idiots dare to leave the class, your fate will be the same as this table!" Chef John had a threatening look while holding up his knife like a psychopath.

"Bro, I think we're being held hostage" Bruce whispered to the student.

"This can't be legal in the academy, right?" The other student face went pale.

"I don't know but I don't want to find out" Bruce saw the John's demented face and knew that there was no getting out of this class. That crazy bastard could just chop them in half and escape the Imperial Academy.

"I think we're stuck here for the year. My name is Bruce, what is your name?" Bruce finally accepted his situation.

"My name is …. Deion Wakeford … "The other student replied as the two boys stared into the eyes of a demon holding a knife.

"Very good my dear students. I will be putting you two in hell to turn you into the most amazing chefs the world has ever seen" John put down the knife and smiled brightly at the boys. Bruce no longer had a relaxed look and cursed himself for taking this class. This cooking class had just turned from paradise to a nightmare.