Settling in the Academy

All four of them had a good view of the entire Academy, from the lush mountain peaks and the thriving forest that surrounds it to the clear river that flows in its outer area. They all marveled and took in the scenery for this will be the place where they will carve their names in history.

After they landed, a person from the academy greeted them and led them to the central area of the academy where they will be assigned to their dorm room.

The process was fast and they got treated fairly, Stella and Silvia were roommates and their room was on the same floor as Lina's room. Samael and Julius were partnered, Julius initially disliked this but since he was still a bit scared of Samael, he accepted it in the end.

The Male and Female areas were separated into the East wing and the West wing. Entering the other wing required permission and it was strictly prohibited for the opposite sex to sneak into the other wing.

When Samael entered the room, followed by Julius. The atmosphere quickly took a turn and Samael threw out the question.

"You know, I never really understood why you don't like me."

Julius, who was walking towards the bed he chose suddenly stopped and gritted his teeth.

"..."

Seeing that the guy held back in answering, Samael pressed on.

"What? Come on, spit it out. I won't laugh, promise."

Julius faced him and pointed his finger at him.

"I just don't believe that you were able to defeat my brother. Like, how is that possible? My brother is the strongest in his batch! It's absurd for you to defeat my brother!"

Such an answer...left Samael speechless. Suddenly he couldn't bear it any longer.

"Hahaha...wait, wait, wait. So you mean, all because of that?"

A bright red blush crept unto Julius' face and he shouted.

"I thought you said, you wouldn't laugh!"

Samael continued to laugh, holding his stomach. He said "Woo...such a funny reason, who could bare not to laugh? Okay, okay, listen. Your brother fought with me while restricting his cultivation."

He then stopped for a while and his smile changed, from a purely joyful smile into a proud smile and he said.

"Remember, I'm not saying this out of arrogance but this is the truth. I haven't met anyone that can match me on the same level, not even your brother. He is strong, yes, I'll give him that but that's that. If you still don't believe me then why don't we have a spar on a later date?"

Julius' face turned from angry to serious and then agreed "Fine, don't disappoint me."

"Oh, I rarely do." Samael retorted.

Knock! Knock!

As their room had gone silent after their exchange, a knock came from their door. Samael walked to the door and opened it. He saw one of the dorm caretakers.

"Excuse me, three of your friends are calling you downstairs."

Three? Samael nodded and beckoned Julius. The two didn't talk to each other at all as they went down. There they saw Silvia, Stella, and Lina.

"So, what do you think?" Lina cheekily asked.

Samael raised an eyebrow then said in an arrogant but sarcastic way "It's fine but I definitely miss the

the sweet maid that passionately takes care of me."

Lina was a bit surprised at his response then she chuckled "I'm definitely telling Aya when we get home."

The two laughed for a while before Lina got to the reason why she was there.

"We're going to the Martial Library and pick up some martial arts for you guys. Newcomers usually are called three days after they've settled down but since I have the time, I've decided to help you guys."

Samael placed his right hand on his heart and put on a pained look as he feigned "Aww, I'm touched."

They all got a few laughs, even Julius couldn't stop himself from smiling a bit at the exchange between the Princess and Samael but he was a bit irritated that the Princess, who was his brother's fiancee got along with some other guy.

Princess Lina, talked about the famous place to go inside the Academy, while also indicating the known and hidden rules inside. Such as killing a fellow student warrants a severe punishment but if you show a high amount of talent, the academy may even pardon your crime. There is also a strict rule that using your status and authority outside the academy is strictly not allowed. Also, competitiveness is also encouraged inside.

It didn't take them long to arrive at a building with four floors. Lina showed her identity card to the elder and she also vouched for Samael and the others, then they entered the Martial arts building. Here they are allowed to learn four martial arts techniques.

There were also some other students inside the building and when the Princess entered, some of them even bowed and made way for her. Clearly, she has some influence inside the academy that was not entirely caused by her status as Princess.

Julius split off right after they entered thanking Lina. This left Samael to be the only male in the group which also garnered some envious gazes from their surrounding.

"I am a sinful man." Samael joked.

The four of them began browsing through the martial arts books in the first floor which is the only floor that was available for them to choose from. Samael saw Silvia, holding a stack of three books that she placed on top of a table near them. Stella traced her finger along the books in front of her and Lina just stood there watching them.

Samael wasn't really interested in choosing from these arts because truthfully they all sucked. Why would he choose from them when he already had a ton of much more powerful techniques to choose from?

He walked up to Silvia who opened all three books and began skimming through them. She looked like she was having a hard time choosing. Samael looked over her shoulder and saw that all three books were about sword arts.

The first one was called "White Crane Sword" which focused on flexibility of both offensive and defensive. The second one was the "Mirror Heart technique", a very passive type of sword art that focused on defense. The last one was called "Lunar Blade Dance"

"I'd choose the Mirror Heart technique if I was you." Samael blurted out.

Silvia turned and looked up to Samael. "Huh?"

Seeing her, Samael couldn't help but blush a bit as her actions were very cute. He pulled the chair next to her and sat down before continuing.

"I've more or less understood this three sword art and the Mirror Heart Technique is the most suited to you."

Silvia closed the three books and asked. "Why do you say that?"

Samael folded his arms and seriously said. "I've seen how you fight and I know that you are currently practicing a profound basic sword art and you have already mastered it to the limit. From what I've seen, you fight with speed and precision, you don't take risks and you like to finish off your opponents quickly

He took out a pen and paper from his storage ring and drew as he continued to explain.

"This means that you like to go in, inflict as much damage as you can or if possible, instantly kill the enemy before retreating to a safe distance. The White Crane sword is also a good choice but you already have sufficient offensive strength and the defensive technique of this sword art is insufficient for you.

While the Mirror Heart technique which focuses on defense and reacting to your opponent's movement is much suited for you. The counter moves indicated in the book work well with your style and allow you to switch from a defensive stance to an offensive stance."

Silvia thought for a while before asking "Then what about the Lunar Sword Dance?"

"About that, if you practice this art, you would actually be spending your time for nothing. This art requires you to be familiar with a movement sequence that doesn't go well with your own. Even if you manage to practice this art close to its limit you would already be left behind by others."

"Is that so..." Silvia nodded her head, it seems that she wanted to be left alone to think so Samael stood and walked over to Stella who Lina was helping.

Lina sensed his approached and decided to tease him "Done flirting?"

"We weren't flirting, geez, has she chosen?" Contrary to her expectation, Samael calmly responded.

She took a hint and became serious as well. "She had been choosing for quite a while and I've been advising her here and there but she hasn't really chosen anything yet."

Samael lightly nodded, he remembered that he too had to choose, even if it's just for formality. So he just said.

"Stella, think first of how you want to fight. If you want to be like Silvia and Sister Lina, who goes in front, I recommend the "Furious Gale Fan" technique. But if you want to continue to remain at the back helping your comrades by providing support, then the "Zephyr's Blessing" is what suites you the most."

He then turned to Lina "Sis, after we're done here I'll teach you the martial art I was planning to teach you."

With that, Samael took off to find some techniques that were similar in form to the ones he planned to learn later.

He strolled around the first floor while looking through some books from time to time. Some other students noticed his movements and began murmuring to themselves, their eyes began staring at him with disapproving looks.

Naturally, Samael didn't care about them and he continued with his search. It didn't take long by the time Silvia and the others finished picking theirs he had already chosen his four martial arts.

A sword art called "Six crescent Blade", a fist art called "Cold Jade Fist", a movement art called "Phantom steps" then a defensive body art called "Crimson jade Physique"

On their own, these arts were probably one of the strongest combinations that a newbie could practice but since he had his memories, these arts were only chosen so he can keep his supreme arts a secret.

Since they were already done, they met up at the front where Julius was already waiting.

"Already done? Hmm...these are wise choices, very well."

The elder noted down the books they borrowed before giving them a talisman which contained a copy of the martial arts book that they wanted to borrow. The elder then took the books off their hands and gave them to one of the librarians to place them back.

"Do your best at the upcoming Academic tournament!" The Elder waved at them as they left the building.

Stella thought of what the elder said and asked "Academic tournament?"

Lina answered her and said "Yeah, the moment the attack at the special space of the academy happened, an expert of the Hundred River Empire charged towards here and issued a challenge. Ten of their geniuses against ten of ours, that is why the academy is holding a competition, so that only the ten strongest can participate."

Samael's lips arched into a smile and a fire burned silently inside of him. He wanted to try and pit his strength against others, especially against those from the other empire. But for now, he needs to build up his strength and prepare for the competition.

They walked back to their dorm before Samael and Princess Lina bid them goodbye under the excuse that they had important things to discuss.

Princess Lina led Samael to the back of the dorm building, this was an open area where students can do their morning practice.

You could see from her eyes, the excitement. How can she not be? She has been enduring all day for Samael to fulfill his promise and teach her martial art. Knowing Samael, it was impossible that he lied, and from his unknown but extremely strong cultivation art, Princess Lina couldn't help but expect.

Samael had also given this matter a great deal of thought. Lina Crimson is someone with principles and a good person, he had seen this for himself. He had judged her to be trustworthy and someone he thought of as close kin. Plus, he had an inkling that they would go on to be friends in the future.

Thus, it wasn't a problem for him to teach her a powerful cultivation art, in fact, it was beneficial for Samael if Lina became stronger as she can help him if he ever encountered trouble.

"The Cultivation art that I will be teaching you is named "Titanic Crimson Star" it befitting of your name as well."

It was this moment that marked the beginning of the woman who would be later called the...

Goddess of the Crimson Sky