“Woah.” Brien whistled, looking at the main building. “I should’ve visited this place yesterday.”

Eldon had to agree. The main building’s size made even the library’s size pale in comparison. Eldon thought that if he had to run from one end of the building to the other, he would probably be completely out of energy by the time he finished. However, there was much more to that than merely size. Like the library, the building had multiple engravings and etchings. Eldon counted about ten floors by counting the windows, but each floor was enormous. Even the living room in Eldon’s living quarters did not match up in height. There were four towers on each corner of the square shaped building.

Tilting his head a little bit up, Eldon could see a tower taller than the others looming above the building. It was not as thick as the other towers, but everyone could feel that there was much more to the tower than what met the eye. The building itself seemed to exude a faint golden aura as if it were alive and possessed power. Quite a few of the new students were already entering the building.

In front of the building’s giant entrance stood two men, one on each side of the entrance. A few other new students were staring at them and seemed afraid to go inside the building. Both of them stood completely still as if they were statues. The one of the left was a warrior clad in full armor, wielding a magnificent longsword in his right hand and a giant kiteshield in his left. His face was completely covered by a full face helmet that only had openings for the eyes and mouth. His eyes glowed a faint red, and a faint mist seemed to exude out of his mouth.

Nikolas felt a bit uncomfortable because he thought the eyes were staring at him, but when he walked a little bit away from his position, he found out that the eyes were still staring at him. However, everyone else also thought that the eyes were staring at them! The other one of the right was a domineering magician, who used both of his hands to wield a plain staff that had a white orb attached upon one of the endpoints of the staff. Although the staff seemed fairly simple, it seemed to be pulsating and alive within the hands of the magician. The magician wore a decorated blue robe with a red cloak hanging off his shoulders. Eldon knew that the two men in front of the entrance were extremely powerful experts, and he felt pressured by their intense gazes. However, the pressure quickly lifted, surprising Eldon.

“Although humans have become weaker, it seems as if their craftsmanship skills have never been better.” Ladriath praised. “Even the sculptures in the front of the building almost fooled me until I probed for souls.”

What sculptures? Eldon thought. However, on a closer inspection, Eldon was shocked to see that the two men in front of the building were indeed sculptures! They were completely immobile, without a single breath coming out of the two.

“Guys, these are sculptures.” Eldon said, shocking the rest. A student hastily walked closer to the sculptures, and with a fleeting movement, he poked the magician sculpture.

“Wow, he’s right!” The student announced. The students who then had gathered in front of the sculptures slowly began to enter the building. Brien gave Eldon a surprised look.

“You got some sharp eyes, Eldon.” He praised.

Ladriath continued. “Both of the sculptures have had qi stored inside of them, and the amount is not small. Whoever was able to imbue so much qi inside these two sculptures and retain it in there was definitely not a common expert. The pressure you felt came from the killing intent the expert stored inside the sculptures. Of course, the killing intent was very faint, so it was easy for me to block it for you.”

Angus was still looking at the building, admiring its artwork and craftsmanship. “I wonder where the Valis Institute gets all this money.”

“Oof!” Angus felt something small collide with his back. Turning around, he saw a boy of small stature sitting on the ground. He had a rather slick head of black hair and he wore round eyeglasses.

Rubbing his behind, the boy said, “From various clans that back the Institute, of course.”

“Sorry about that.” Angus said. The boy took Angus’s outstretched hand and pulled himself up. However, since Angus had such immense strength, the boy felt himself lift off the air before landing back on his feet.

“You are really strong, my friend. My name is Vernis.” He shook hands with Angus, while sneaking a peek at the girls in Eldon’s group. They are really cute. His eyes landed on Serene. Jackpot. Vernis had already decided to befriend Angus in order to get closer to the girls. Although he seemed to be a timid little bookworm outwardly, his heart was that of a player. His skill as a player, though, was questionable. He was rather unsuccessful back in his village.

“I’m Angus. These are my friends…” Angus introduced Eldon and the rest to Vernis. Vernis said hello and smiled at all of them, but also gave deep bows to the girls. Brien raised an eyebrow and Nikolas coughed a bit.

Vernis gave a sweeping look at the group. “From what I see, you guys probably have come from a town from the southeast, no?”

Rosaline was surprised. “How could you tell?”

Vernis gave another practiced smile. Although Rosaline could not compare with Serene, her dark wavy hair was still quite pleasing with her face. This girl will be my first conquest, he thought. “People from the southeast tend to wear more clothing and prefer the colors brown and white.” He pushed his glasses up. “There are eight of you. That is much more than what a normal village can produce, so I knew that you all came from a town. Eight is still a rather large amount for your usual town, but it is too little for a city. It’s just a simple observation.” Nevertheless, the others were rather impressed.

“Where are the other people from your place?” Eldon questioned.

“I come from quite a small village, and unfortunately, I was the only one who was able to pass the test.” Vernis gave a sad smile, inducing sympathy from the girls.

“You can sit with us during the entrance ceremony.” Rosaline said. “I’m sure everyone won’t mind, right?” She said, looking at the boys.

“Sure.” No problem.” “Whatever floats your boat.”

Brien yawned.

“How amusing. Although his looks aren’t good for a human, he knows how to talk.” Ladriath commented.

You can see? Eldon asked.

“Through your eyes.”

Oh.

Ladriath paused. “I do give you privacy when you go to the bathroom.”

...Okay.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.” Angus said.

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The interior of the building was much simpler than the outside, but it was still nevertheless quite a work of art. Like the outside of the building, the walls inside also seemed alive and pulsating. Across from the main entrance was a large lobby with three hallways. One went right, another went left, and the last one continued down from the entrance. There was a desk where a lady was sitting. She looked up from her work and smiled.

“New students, hmm? Go down that hallway and you’ll get there.” She pointed at the hallway that was parallel with the entrance. Squinting, Eldon could see that the hallway led to the outside.

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There are a lot of people, Eldon thought as he reached the end of the hallway and was met by an enormous tract of grassland. It seemed to be right in the middle of the school, and there were numerous chairs placed neatly around. There was also a large platform, much bigger than the one back in Aramore, and something like a podium on top of it.

“Looks more like a graduation ceremony to me.” Nikolas commented. He looked at the front of the rows of chairs. “Seems like we got some VIPs.” Vernis pushed up his glasses.

“But of course. Although the Valis Institute has rather lacking requirements compared to other smaller and more elite schools, many of the major clans nevertheless send their children here, usually along with their own personal instructors. The fame and well known name of the Valis Institute is what draws many of them here. In fact, many clans settle major disputes and problems by having their most talented progeny compete in the competitions that the Institute holds. Hm...I’ve gathered quite a lot of information about this school before hand. Although merchants rarely come by my village, I always squeeze out as much information as I can get out of them. I also spent most of the day yesterday studying about the school and notable people.”

Vernis took out a small notebook out of his pocket. “Hmm...let’s see…” He flipped through his notes. Looking up, he pointed at a male and female pair sitting in the front. Both of them were blonde and had blue eyes. There was a commanding air around them. “Ah. Those two are Jarvis and Elena, twins from the mighty Grandus Clan. It’s said that both of them are dual-elementalists, and possibly even tri-elementalists!” The twins were surrounded by quite a few admirers, but none of them dared to approach close to them and sit next to them. A few people had also already eyed at Serene previously, but Angus would always cough and the eyes would divert away.

Vernis chuckled. “As you can see, there are already people trying to curry favors with them. In this world, having many connections is vital to one’s success.” Vernis pointed at another person sitting with his arms crossed. This person was sitting by himself, but that was because people were too afraid to approach him. Although he was not as large as Angus, his tan and bulging muscles could clearly be seen under the rays of the suns. “That, my friends, is Damien Farseeker. The Farseeker Clan is known for their aptitudes in earth. This year, it seems as if they have quite a good chance for the intra-school competition, and perhaps even for the inter-school competition. Damien Farseeker is confirmed to have a mighty aptitude in earth.”

Brien inhaled sharply. “Damn. Looks like you have some competition, Angus.” He said, nudging his elbow into Angus’s side. Angus frowned.

“Just because his aptitude is higher doesn’t mean I’m disadvantaged.” He confidently said.

Vernis continued. “Although it’s possible for one to win against another of higher aptitude, the difference in ranks is usually what separates the weak from the strong. Before you are thirteen, your human core has not fully developed, so any attempt to channel and absorb magical energy is dangerous and risky. However, many clans have some methods around this. They may either speed up the development of the core, or give to their children a method to absorb qi indirectly. Nevertheless, these methods are still a bit dangerous, but they do give quite an advantage. Most of the people you see sitting in the front have already reach Rank 10; some are most likely even intermediates. When one begins to absorb and channel magical energy, one’s progression is usually constant along with others, even if one has high talent. That is why many clans start their children’s training slightly earlier to gain an advantage over their peers from other clans. Once you reach the threshold of Rank 8, though, then that is where the talented is separated from the talentless. The peak of Rank 8 is an insurmountable barrier for many. The talentless will be forever stuck at Rank 8 while the talented with break to Rank 7. After Rank 7, everyone’s progression varies.”

Eldon tilted his head. “Humans have cores?”

“Yes.” Vernis responded. “However, human cores are incorporeal, so they dissipate after the death of the human. If this wasn’t the case, then our race would probably be driven to extinction because we slaughter each other off for our cores.”

Why does everyone have similar progression in the beginning? Eldon asked Ladriath.

“That was not the case in my time, but considering the impure qi in the air, it seems as if it takes a few years before one can completely display their talent. When one reaches the higher ranks, one is also usually able to naturally purify the qi somewhat without any training, albeit it is not too effective without training.”

I thought the qi in your age was pure, Eldon thought.

“There are different levels of purity, Eldon. The impure qi today cannot compare with the pure qi of my time, but I could still further purify that qi to a whole other level. For a human today to reach the level of the humans in my time would be many times more difficult. Back then, one was usually able to become stronger without being stuck at such an early bottleneck as many do today, I assume. Nevertheless, it seems as if humans have somewhat adapted to the impure qi. The sculptures in front of the entrance of the school were imbued with qi by someone who would still be considered quite a powerful expert back in my time. I suppose after Rank 8, humans are able to somewhat match up with their ancestors.”

Ladriath paused, remembering the power that Aevas had shown. “Listen, Eldon. I was a bit hasty in what I said before about how you could not get far in any of the paths without me. That came from a part of my instinctive disdain for the weak. However, I had met someone who completed shattered in everything that I had believed in before.”

Ladriath sighed.“Humans still do not understand enough. You all may think it is impossible for a person with low affinity to break past the so called insurmountable barrier of the peak of Rank 8, but there is a whole world out there. Nothing is for sure. I am confident to say that even if you had never met me before, with enough luck and hard work, anything is possible. All you have to do is believe in yourself. The weak will only stay weak if they believe it is so. Do you understand, Eldon?”

Eldon gave a slight nod. Satisfied, Ladriath stopped speaking.

Vernis continued to point out notable figures. There was Leylin from the Ashlen Clan, Samuel from the Dawn Clan, Elizabeth and Victoria from the Sedecia Clan, and quite a few others. Although they all came from numerous clans of varying power and significance, all of them had aptitudes above everyone else. The group found some seats in the middle of the chairs, and asked a few people politely to move around so that they could sit together. Eventually, after twenty or so minutes, everyone had arrived.

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Ugh...Tried to work on my college essay the past few days, but nope! My brain refuses. I'm sure that I can figure something out the day before it's due. Haha....(Picture a bit graphic)

There should be another chapter later...I think (Edit: I lied :( ). I know, there hasn't been much action, but you should start to see Eldon at hard work soon within the next one or two chapters.

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