-1st person-

7 weeks later,

I walked along the pavement, stopping in front of the hill I was on top of to stare at the panorama before me.

It was truly a sight to behold. It was something of a perfect mix between futuristic and medieval. However, it was so majestic that I struggled to find the correct words to describe it...

I trotted towards the board placed on the right side of the large door. Taking a glance at the scores.

[Raymond Valtere: 13th place, 14328 points]

Although I broke many records, most of the rankings over here are based off intelligence and since I purposely made sure to get marks wrong, I got this rank. Coupled with my spar ranking, I am quite highly ranked and I'm also guaranteed to get a good dorm room.

I nodded my head slightly and turned to walk inside, to my classroom which I was told about a week ago.

Looking along the wall to see the class number, I finally stopped at [Class 701].
I was fairly early to class and as soon as I walked in, I saw Vincent sitting at a desk near the back. I navigated through the students all over and all the chairs whilst using [Presence Erase].

As soon as I was next to Vincent, I lifted it and sat next to him.

"Hey~!" I shouted in his ears. He jumped and turned his head to look at me, he was reading a chunky book that felt vaguely familiar to me.

Anyways, he then mumbled,

"Don't have to yell so loud, Ray..."

It was quite a feat to get close to Vincent, he's sort of a loner.

"But you wouldn't have heard me if I didn't yell?" I answered back.

"Haaa... But still..." He had bags under his eyes and seemed quite tired. Guess he didn't sleep.

After he said that, a girl with a unique presence walked in the class. The whole room fell silent and stared at her, including me.

She had blue, shoulder-length hair. She seemed quite short and also had a relatively muscular figure, she had long nails and from what I could see, she also had earrings. She turned her head towards me and I saw large, grey eyes. She also had... Vertical pupils? Like the ones you'd see in dragons in those illustrations and paintings.

Then, she took a few steps towards my position.

Wait... She isn't going to me, is she?

Then, she took more steps and before I knew it, she was right in front of my table.

Oh god... I almost facepalmed

"Raymond Valtere, ranked first in our class." She spoke, almost the exact same way Vincent did...?

"Yep, that's me. And who are you?" Making sure to keep smiling.

"Crystal Maisrin, so, did you pay your way to the top?" 

Straight to the point I see...

"No? Why do you ask?" I replied, rolling my eyes inwardly.

"Well, it seemed like you won pretty easily..." She said slowly.

Everyone was looking at us now in silence. There was no gossiping or whispering and they just stared. It was somewhat amusing to be the one being stared at but I brushed it off.

"Well? I didn't see you at the tournament, did I?" I replied snarkily as I placed Eris on the table before I accidentally broke Her. Eris just watched us and placed a paw on my hand, like She was supporting me.

"Well, if you so need to know, I didn't need to participate in the tournament since I was already chosen to enter the school. I am the Imperial Princess, you know and I also did the test when I was 7." She said, leaning closer to me.

"Really? Well then, Princess, will you please excuse yourself. Since you seem to loveattracting attention." Our faces were only a centimetre away from each other and I kept looking at her in the eyes unblinkingly.

"Fine, then. I shall." Crystal responded as she frowned and left to sit near the middle.

Just then, as if he had perfect timing too, Rein walked in.

He slowly walked to the podium at the stage and looked at all of us one by one, then he slammed the book he was holding on the podium and said,

"Some of you are pathetic, utterly pathetic." He looked at a few humans, including Crystal, and then began to speak again. "Well, unlike other classes, we will be starting our lessons today. Any complaints will be heard now."

There were no complaints but some students looked dissatisfied. I was quite content since I could just make 'friends' after school or at break.

Then, he called me up and tested me,

"Create a ball of mana and a ball of qi. They have to be the size of your index finger, then, if you can, try to merge them."

I created a small mana ball and a small index ball. Then they melted into eachother seamlessly.

"Good enough, Now, make it bigger."

It became the size of a basketball.

"Good. Now, make an arrow."

It morphed into an arrow.

"Amazing, sword."

It became a sword.

"Spear."

It was now a spear.

"Now, this is the main part, try to create a human using only the size and amount of mana and qi as the start."

Ah. I read this in a book, I think its something like you... Yeah, you stretch the mana out.

I tried the technique using the small mana and qi ball and it took 9 minutes before I finished it.

"You did great but you took too long. The assignment is to practise and try to do it in less than a minute. I will be giving advice by going around shortly after everyone has been tested, I will also give a lecture on the specific techniques." I nodded my head and then left to practise. However, he kept speaking, "How'd you learn that technique anyways?"

"I read it in a book, Instructor."

You did well, didn't you? Eris said to me just as I sat down. I gave a little nod and then immersed myself in practise.

I was called a little later for my test. Actually, it was a long time after but I just thought it was little.

"Raymond Valtere."

"Yes, Instructor Rein." I said just as I was in front of Rein.

"Create a mana and qi ball."

I did as instructed and also melted them together.

"Good, now, bigger."

It became a basketball, I was also using this technique so it took longer, however, I was also improving rapidly. This took 33 seconds.

"Arrow."

It became an arrow in 29 seconds.

"Sword."

It became a sword in 24 seconds.

"Spear."

It quickly morphed into a spear in 18 seconds.

"Amazing, now scythe."

It turned into a scythe. I guess it's some sort of challenge for me. It took 17 seconds, however, I felt that if I did it again, I'd be able to do it much quicker.

"Now, turn it into a person."

I made a person in 13 seconds.

"You did amazing, Raymond. Now, Crystal Maisrin."

I walked past Crystal and saw her biting her lip lightly with her brows furrowed. I looked back and walked to Vincent and he spoke.

"You know, Instructor Rein complimented you quite a lot. He didn't say any compliments to anyone else and the best someone got was a good enough." He said, perhaps a little resentfully.

"Haha, I guess so. Well, do you want me to help you so you can get complimented?" Vincent nodded and that was what happened the rest of the lesson.

In the end, he did get a 'good'.

***

Author's Note

I always forget these Author's Thoughts... 

Well, what do you think of this chapter? Any insults to add to (nonexistent) injury?