Second Choice: Different Paths

Bang!

The academy elder slammed the table fiercely, his anger boiling over.

"Aidan is going too far! What does he want to achieve? How dare he continue to rob, snatching eight essence Gems from the class head and three from the vice-class head! With this, what difference is there between the class head, vice-class head, and the ordinary students?!" The academy elder struggled to keep his voice low, his words dripping with fury.

Aidan's refusal of the class head position was a refusal to be integrated into the castle's system. To put it bluntly, it was a form of betrayal against the castle.

This had already infuriated the academy elder.

Furthermore, Aidan continued to rob his classmates. His reach extended further and further, surpassing the academy elder's limits.

With such extortion, the power and status of the class head and vice-class head were completely undermined.

In the long run, ordinary students would also lose their awe and interest in these two positions.

Aidan's actions, seemingly insignificant, held significant meaning.

He was challenging the castle's system single-handedly!

This was a scenario the academy elder never wanted to see. He nurtured the new hopes of the castle, not its betrayers.

However, although Aidan's actions challenged his bottom line, the academy elder knew he couldn't intervene.

If he did, the first to disagree would be the king. The second and third would be the grand duke and the archbishop.

The king's daughter and his Step-son, Ewan, were both highly talented ascenders. Ewan was even the only top-tier genius the castle had seen in hundreds of years. The castle needed resilient and independent talents, not delicate flowers that needed care and protection.

Likewise, the grand duke and the archbishop wanted their descendants to grow through such setbacks.

If the academy elder intervened and punished Aidan on behalf of the students, the message would be, "The future hopes of the castle couldn't handle Aidan, so they had to rely on their elders." 

What a shame.

This would be a major blow to the reputations of the king, the archbishop, and the grand duke.

Of course, the academy elder wasn't afraid of a mere Aidan, but he feared that intervening in this matter would bring the triple pressure of the king, the archbishop, and the grand duke, almost the entirety of the castle's upper echelons, upon him. How could a lowly elder like him bear such pressure?

"The root of this matter lies in Aidan's secret. What exactly is he relying on to advance to the mid-tier so naturally?" The academy elder suppressed his anger and refocused his gaze on the three investigation reports on his desk.

The first report detailed Aidan's family background.

Aidan was born into an ordinary family, with no suspicious identity or background. His parents had passed away, and he was taken in by his uncle and aunt. However, their relationship was not harmonious, and they had lived separately even before Aidan started attending the academy. After he joined the academy, Aidan had been living in the dormitories.

The second report covered Aidan's life history.

He had shown signs of early intelligence, catching the castle's attention, which believed he might have Celestial aptitude. However, after the Opening Ceremony, his Radiant aptitude was measured, disappointing many.

The third-party report outlined Aidan's recent activities.

His daily routine was extremely simple, almost monotonous. He attended classes during the day and slept in the dormitories at night. He diligently practiced cultivation every night. Occasionally, he would go out to the only restaurant in the castle to improve his diet and buy alcohol.

He liked drinking. Dozens of barrels of alcohol were stored under his dormitory bed.

The academy elder carefully reviewed these three reports, deepening his impression of Aidan.

"Parents died early, and he doesn't get along with his uncle and aunt... No wonder Aidan lacks a sense of belonging to the castle. He was crowned with the title of genius by the castle, only to have it snatched away by his own hands, falling from the heights to the ground... No wonder he's unruly and aloof. His life is so simple, his cultivation so diligent—it's all to prove himself to the castle! That's why he's so fiercely resisting when I suppress him..."

As the academy elder pondered this, he couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.

The more he understood Aidan, the more he empathized with him.

However, understanding didn't mean forgiveness. Aidan defied him, violated his authority, refused to take up the class head position, and brazenly robbed his classmates—all of which the academy elder couldn't tolerate.

Shaking the documents in his hand, the academy elder furrowed his brows again.

"Although these reports are detailed, they don't touch on Aidan's secret to advancing. It's been days, and these people still haven't achieved anything!"

...

...

...

The sun rose slowly, heralding a new day.

The students were all lined up, each one excited, standing in front of the academy's secret treasure vault.

Today was a good day to choose the second essence conduit!

Starting from this day, every ascender would begin constructing their own unique combat system.

In the Mistvale Keeps, there were generally three mainstream schools of thought.

The first school involved sacrificing wolves, absorbing their power and merging with them, allowing ascenders to transform into a different species of "werewolf" during battle. The "werewolf" form granted ascenders razor-sharp claws and teeth, as well as strength and regenerative abilities surpassing ordinary humans. However, the time spent in this form was limited. Prolonged transformation into a "werewolf" could cause loss of rationality, forgetting one's human memories, and becoming a "Forsaken Ascendant". This combat style was mainly used by the faction of the Archbishop. The second essence conduit for this school required the selection of a conduit capable of wielding the power of "transformation" and merging the "wolf fang" essence conduit with "transformation".

The second school involved further enhancing the wolves enslaved by the ascender, turning ordinary wolves into extraordinary giant wolves. Meanwhile, other essence conduits were used to strengthen the ascender's own power, enabling them to fight alongside their giant wolves. This school was known as the "Wolf Knights" and was mainly used by the faction of the Duke.

The third school comprised various other disciplines, including reconnaissance, support, healing, logistics, and so on. Many small families in the castle belonged to this school, with the standout being the faction of the king. The king's faction, through the power of extraordinary plants, could achieve various abilities including "healing". King Alistair was not only the highest-ranked ascender in the castle but also a highly respected ascender with healing abilities. Many ascenders in the castle had been treated by Alistair.

Of course, there was another school of thought, but almost no one followed this path anymore. It involved continuously increasing the number of enslaved wolves, forming a massive wolf army, and fighting like commanding an army. This method of combat required a vast amount of resources and the ascender to possess strong mental strength to command such a large number of wolves. When not in battle, keeping so many wolves in captivity consumed a significant amount of food. It is said that the first king of the Mistvale Keeps followed this school.

Choosing the second essence conduit also meant that ascenders were choosing different factions' methods of combat.

Aidan was the first to advance to the mid-level and had the right to choose first, so he stood at the front of the line. Behind him were Isolde, Ewan, Tristan, and Emeric, in that order.

Creak.

The door was opened by the guards, and Aidan stepped in first. The treasure vault, though not large, contained vast treasures. The walls were adorned with square-shaped small holes of various sizes, each containing a variety of vessels - stone basins, jade plates, grass-woven cages, and fired purple clay pots.

Various Essencial Conduits were stored in these vessels, all of them first-level. The castle consumed a significant amount of resources every day to feed these Essencial Conduits. Aidan glanced around and noticed that many vessels were empty, devoid of Essencial Conduits.

The Essencial Conduits in the vault were replenished only once a year. Most of the young people who had previously chosen the first Essencial Conduit had opted for the "wolf fang," but now there were none left in the vault.

There were no windows around the vault, only a small skylight in the roof. Sunlight streamed in through the skylight, forming a rectangular golden patch on the floor of the vault.

The first time Aidan entered the vault, he had a goal in mind and chose the "wolf fang" right away. But now, he needed to carefully plan his future path.