Chapter 4: A Defiant 2nd Layer

After ten minutes of staring at himself in the mirror, Ivar returned to normal and began to meditate. He was hoping to breakthrough to the second layer while he still felt refreshed.

His wish was granted after only an hour. A flood of power and strength flowed through his body for several minutes before he felt his body returning to its new normal. After his two achievements the refreshed felling was replaced by exhaustion, after lying down he fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

After waking up, Ivar sat at the edge of his bed thinking of what he was going to do. He hated being forced to attend the academy; he hated the elitism of the academy, and he hated being around so many people who were just as angry as he was.

His first option was to continue to attend the academy. He figured that he could break through to Rank 1 before the end of this school year if everything went as planned, or middle of the next if they didn't.

His second option was to ignore the city manager's order and stay outside the city in the wilds. As long as he didn't stay in the eastern district or return to the western district, he could return to the city to sell what he hunted and resupply without trouble. He may even be able to stay at an inn a couple of nights a week. And as long as he became a Rank 1 demonic spiritualist no one would punish him for leaving.

His third option was to move to a different city. As long as he was a 3rd layer, he could get work as a mercenary or guard. If he became Rank 1, all he would have to do is say he wanted work, and many offers would come with ease. This was becoming very popular with his fellow students. Many trade caravans heading to other cities would hire any demonic spiritualist that could perform a full transformation. Other cities would pay the caravans a finder's fee for every student that stayed in their cities. Ivar was sure that for the first several months of a new year trade caravans could earn more from helping student escape than trading.

After failing to make a decision, Ivar went to class. Standing at the front of the class with Instructor Berry was Mister Lind. Mister Lind is a member of the academy staff, the first week of the year he spoke to the class about volunteering for the city militia and city guards, the second week he came to speak about how leaving the city was against the city managers orders and a betrayal of the city they grew up in. Now he was back, and Ivar could guess what he was going to talk about.

"Attention students, it is with a heavy heart that I come to speak to you today. Yesterday, at the resource center, an individual tried to extort money and equipment from a clerk. The clerk did their duty and refused this individual's attempt at theft and was not only attacked but severely injured. I know like all students of this academy; you are outraged by the lawlessness of this individual and wish for him to be severely punished for his cowardly actions as well as the speedy recovery of the clerk. If any of you know who this individual is, please tell your instructor or a member of the academy's faculty immediately. Thank you."

Mr. Lind slightly bowed his head and took a step back as he held his hands behind his back. Every word spoken and every movement made were done with a practiced elegance. His slightly greying hair was slicked back without a single hair out of place, his expensive robes hung perfectly to his stocky build, even how his lifted shoes made him just slightly taller than average. Everything about him was meant to inspire confidence, respect, and authority.

Mr. Lind's act was cut short by laughter, it started with several students, before most of the class was laughing. He started glaring at the laughing students and was about to scold them when he was interrupted from taking action.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!"

Looking to the back of the class, was a tan skinned student with red hair. He was not laughing, nor did he look amused, he looked pissed.

"Are you so stupid you didn't bother to look up what class I was in? Or are you so arrogant that you thought you could stand there and lie straight to the faces of people that were there when it happened? Did you think your bullshit lies would somehow become true if you said them? The only thing the students are outraged about is that I didn't attack that worthless shit clerk, they would have preferred it if I smashed the clerk's skull instead of the counter."

"So, you admit your crimes?" Thinking he had caught the criminal; Mr. Lind began smiling.

"Shut the fuck up you moron! There were over two hundred people at the resource center, and while I am sure the two or three suck ups that were among the crowd would happily testify to whatever you wish them to say, the rest won't."

With this simple statement, the smile on Mr. Lind's face disappeared. The brat maybe be exceptionally rude, but he is right. From the time the resource center opens till it closes, it's full of students. He was also right that the students won't go along with the academy's story. Even if the story was absolutely true, with the way the students hate the academy they wouldn't hesitate to lie. Even if the clerk was really injured or killed, the students could have said that the clerk attacked him, and he was forced to defend himself, it's over two hundred demonic spiritualists against a dozen or so normal human staff members. Mr. Lind was starting to get a bad feeling, and it was getting worse the more he thought about it.

"You should go to the magistrate's office after classes." A sweet voice interjected.

The voice belonged to Elsa. Not only was a tall, beautiful girl, she came from a family of wealth and power. Every male whose family had even a bit of wealth tried their best to get close to her, only to be rejected as though they were nothing. Elsa's family had four Rank 2 demonic spiritualists and over a dozen Rank 1's, her family also had plenty of Rank 3 warriors. What truly made her awesome was the simple fact that even though she came from a rich, powerful family and had every right to be an elitist bitch, she hated the academy's elitism even more than Ivar.

There were plenty of times Ivar and others would have liked to talk to Elsa, she was always surrounded by the other girls in the class. Ivar could cuss at a fellow student or an adult without care but trying to talk to a pretty girl while being stared at by two dozen other girls was a terrifying thought.

"Huh?" Was the only thing Ivar could say.

"You should go to the magistrate's office. The academy told lies about you and slandered your name. Thats against the laws of the city and Alliance. The magistrate will have to investigate, there will accusations, and charges, and a large scandal that will harm the academy. But then again you could go to the resource center after classes, check out the best weapon, storage bag, and soul gem they have. If the academy forgot to ask for them back, you could forget to go to the magistrate's office."

After a few seconds of thinking Ivar looked towards the front of the classroom. While he didn't like the fact that his brain turned to mush, and he forgot he was angry for a few seconds just because Elsa smiled at him as she spoke. He did like that she was helping him blackmail the academy.

After saying: "I'll make the arrangements.", Mr. Lind quickly retreated from the room.