Chapter 3: Lecture and a Professor's Plight

In the lecture hall, Sorin remained relaxed in his seat, his posture carefree. As the professor explained the trivial information of Spirit Masters, Sorin had been silently observing his surroundings, particularly at all the young disciples.

With the memories of his past life, he was trying to see and remember whether any of these people had become great figures in the future or perhaps found natural treasures of the world.

After a few minutes of observation, Sorin shook his head. Everyone in this lecture hall were about the same. They were all of average talent at most. But compared to him, all of them were better. And a small few could be classed as somewhat decent to the standards of this continent.

Once the teacher began talking about spirit beasts, Sorin's attention had been drawn once again.

"In this world exists creatures that are vastly different from the animals of the mortal world. They are called spirit beasts. These creatures are born with formidable strength, possessing minimal intelligence. A creature can be classed as a spirit beast when it has a beast core within them. These cores can be sold or used by Spirit Masters to create elixirs, pills, inscriptions, runes and magical formations. They are very valuable. In the future, you will likely face many of such creatures, with some of you maybe even losing your life." Professor Ashveil spoke, wanting to give these disciples a reason to become stronger.

As she continued to speak, whenever her eyes were casted towards the disciples, she would involuntarily find herself drawn to the disciple that had slept in her class.

Out of everyone, she had the strongest impression on this person, carving his features into her mind. Of course, it wasn't for a good reason, she simply disliked this person so much!

Everytime she looked at him, he would either be lost in his thoughts or swivelling his head to look at his fellow disciples, not even pretending to pay attention to her lecture.

This was simply a slap in her face!

Feeling slightly agitated, she pointed and said, "Boy at the second row with the gold hair, what is your name?"

Seeing her targeting the boy that had slept in her lecture, many of the disciples in the hall sneered, inwardly laughing to themselves. You reap what you sow!

Despite the fierce glare of the professor, Sorin had a carefree attitude as he replied, "Sorin!"

"Alright disciple Sorin! As you seem to be quite confident, how about you explain the key features of beast bone relics and why they are important to Spirit Masters?" She said. She had briefly explained this a few minutes ago and had caught Sorin not paying attention. This way, if he doesn't get the answer correct, she could punish him within reason!

Sorin contemplated slightly about the professors words, mumbling. "Beast bone relics?" He then continued, "If you mean the bones of beasts that have accumulated enough primal energy, their bones evolving to match their physical toughness or attributes, can be used by the Spirit Master occupation Spirit Artificers to craft weapons, armours or artifacts!"

Such a trivial question was easy for Sorin to answer. However, in front of these disciples, the majority were inwardly shocked. The hell were Spirit Artificers? What was primal energy? They were simply given basic information of beast bone relics by the professor. How'd he come up with this?

They all thought that the boy had merely spoken gibberish, but as they saw the professor's expression, they knew what he said wasn't false.

Hearing the flawless answer given by Sorin, the professor's expression looked like she had swallowed a fly.

Seeing the gazes of all the children on her, she quickly composed herself as she coughed before saying, "V-Very good! It seems disciple Sorin had already learnt of this information at the library of the academy! All disciples should strive to be just as diligent!" She swiftly found a reason, trying to save face. Even if he had repeated all the words she said previously about beast bone relics, she would've enlightened him about primal energy and Spirit Artificers, using this as a way to slightly humble him and smoothly provide information to the other disciples.

But now, not only could she not even reprimand him about his behaviour, she even had to praise him in front of these disciples.

She felt even more embarrassed as he practically did everything for her. She wanted nothing more than to ruthlessly smack this boy into begging for forgiveness!

With another idea emerging in her head she said, "It seems disciple Sorin is quite the scholar... How about this, if you can answer this question, I will give you 10 astral tokens as a reward. However, if you cannot, you must act accordingly as a disciple of this academy. Would you like to try?" Professor Ashveil's melodious voice resounded.

As a professor, she must be able to provide knowledge to those younger than her. How could she let this youngster leave with such an arrogant and carefree personality? Furthermore, she could tell that his background wasn't strong, such information should be impossible to get even if he had looked through the entire library! It is such a broad term that would only sound better through beings much stronger than her.

Easily seeing through her intentions, Sorin smiled. "Ask away."

"Hmph, just a frog in the well being this arrogant." She mumbled before saying, "Very well! What is the true path?"

Without much thought, Sorin quickly answered. "The true path is something that not even Heaven or Earth knows. This path that all Spirit Masters pursue is limitless with countless mysteries that have yet to be unravelled. With my own understanding of the true path, it is merely an individual's very own insights and comprehensions towards the pinnacle."

Hearing Sorin's answer, the professor once again was in disbelief. Where could this boy find information of something this elusive? This understanding rivalled hers, and she had already spent many years embarking on this path.

Unbeknownst to her, Sorin was an old demon that had comprehended the meaning even more deeply. Such an answer was the most simple thing that he could possibly give.

"Are you satisfied with my answer, professor?" Sorin remarked. Although there wasn't any hidden meaning behind those words, the woman felt as though salt was being rubbed on her wounds.

"Y-Yes, this answer is good!" She exclaimed, irritation briefly leaking from her tone.

With those questions answered, the professor had resumed her lecture, time swiftly passing.

Once the lecture ended, all the disciples had eventually left the hall, leaving only Sorin and the professor.

Seeing the intense glare of the person in front of him, Sorin sheepishly laughed. "I hope professor didn't forget her promise."

"Hand over the astral crystal!" She voiced in displeasure, finding the mere sight of this boy heating her entire body in anger.

Scavenging through his white robes, with elegant engravings coiling around his sleeves and a prominent phoenix symbol on the back, he eventually felt a tough sensation on his fingertips. Taking the purple crystal out, Sorin handed it over to the professor.

The professor took out her own astral crystal as she transferred 10 astral tokens to Sorin's astral crystal.

After she transferred what she owed, knowing how furious she was towards him, Sorin quickly left the hall as he wanted to explore the city.

Soaring Phoenix Academy was located in Redwall City, but this city was part of the academy. This was because all the people who live in Redwall City were all disciples of Soaring Phoenix Academy.

This meant that in this vast city, were all people who had talent towards the true path! The number of disciples easily surpassed 3 million as the city was massive.

In this place were auction houses, libraries, weapon and potion stalls, trading areas and much more. Everything a Spirit Master needed could be found in this city!

As he exited the Phoenix Academy's main building for new disciples, he immediately noticed all his fellow disciples walking about. Many had white robes, some had black robes and a small few had red robes. As for the purple robes, no one in this area met the qualifications.

Various weapons could be seen either holstered to these disciples' waists or backs whilst the rich few were probably carrying them in their spatial rings.

At this moment, Sorin was merely a third-rate disciple. In fact, he didn't even qualify as one as he still didn't have a trace of spiritual energy in his body.

However, with the astral tokens he recently obtained from his generous professor, he could already solve this.

Astral tokens were the main currency of this academy. It replaced the mortal world's coins, holding a more significant value to these disciples as it could be used for everything like daily necessities, resources to cultivate your realm, and to purchase equipment.

Spirit Masters have completely separated themselves from the mortal world. In fact, Sorin was no where near his home! Soaring Phoenix Academy resided on a vast sky island. This sky island was so massive, even modern Earth wouldn't even be half the size of it!

After he had been selected to be a disciple of this academy, he had left via a flame bird of the Academy, its true name called the Vermillion Bird — descendants of Phoenixes!

It had a wingspan of almost 60 metres, carrying countless disciples.

Primal Star was a vast world. This sky island was big, but compared to Primal Star, it was like an ant in size!

Holding the astral crystal in his hand, with just a strand of consciousness directed towards it, Sorin had immediately noticed how it showed his name, position as a disciple, rank in the Soaring Arena, and most importantly, his astral tokens!

He currently had 14 astral tokens. When he first arrived here, all disciples had been given 5. These would be used for their initial accommodations, food and daily necessities. It would only last for perhaps 2 days at best.

The professor was not merely saying words to scare the children back then. If they truly did not put in the effort, they would really live like beggars.

To earn astral tokens required one to do the missions issued by the academy, do labour, help senior disciples, or sell items at the trading area. Moreover, the academy also held competitions between disciples, rewarding promising talents. This was why the Soaring Arena existed.

It was created to hone the battle prowess of their disciples. Moreover, it had rankings — with high positions giving the disciples benefits like astral tokens or natural treasures and elixirs.

Furthermore, it was a way to settle disputes and grievances without being punished by the law enforcers of this city.