Chapter Eight - What if I win? part 1

"You… but how…" Scarlet Mercury was temporarily dumbstruck. She used 30% of her strength in that slap, but in her opinion, even that may have been too much! This boy should be mangled and unrecognizable at best, dead and disfigured at worst. So never would she have imagined that the strike was actually far too light! In fact, it wasn't just this brat, only around three of these students should be capable of taking such a slap from her without being completely crippled.

After all, Scarlet knew from Lucky Riot's profile that he had only been at the second level of the Mystic Essence Realm's Hard Body Stage last year. To suddenly jump to the sixth level after a year of independent study?

Impossible!

The only solution was that his little rich but spoiled brat of a girlfriend here paid to get him some magical medicine to boost his cultivation. They probably spent all that time away just to track one down. Such a method of rapidly and recklessly tempering oneself would leave the body riddled with contaminants. Their foundation would be unstable, and this could be considered superficial strength. In a clash with a more solid foundation, it would crumble immediately. However, this wasn't the scene that she was currently witnessing.

All of this to keep this sorry excuse for a man in school?

Scarlet Mercury looked down on this couple from the bottom of her heart.

"So this is our homeroom teacher in this new Silver Mercury Gang era. Bullying the weak, with no fear of any consequences. Truly a gangster-like woman, as your name suggests," Lucky Riot berated fearlessly as if he wasn't speaking to a teacher. It was as if he simply wasn't the one who was just brutally assaulted by this woman.

Of course, he was obviously livid as he spoke slowly and in grave tones. The students near him felt a sort of formless heat coming from Lucky's body. His manly and low voice rumbled the hearts of some of the young ladies in the class. Lucky's voice had already started changing once he woke up from his sacred coma, and it seemed to deepen daily.

'Did the Kasino grow more dashing?' His female classmates couldn't help but think this in their hearts.

Lucky was oblivious to their thoughts. He decided to make this prissy woman feel ghetto as he continued, "Listen, lady, your name may be Mercury, but this is Thoth Academy. This isn't your playground. We are not the 'hood' as you call it. Do you believe the foreign student overseer would just roll over this issue if you asked her too? Are you a match for a dean? You, a warrior who would sneak attack a weak junior just to stroke your ego? You, a teacher who couldn't even correctly injure a student, even after making a sneak attack? You, a glorified seductress who allowed herself to become jealous of a far younger woman? I'm not sure how you can even take yourself seriously."

"Those are some big balls, dude."

"Holy shit…"

"Kasino's lost it…"

"The Royale Family is one of the city's top five factions! They have the most influence in Nibiru City."

"Not only that, but Silver Mercury has control of the land right now, and he could be considered having just insulted them."

"Has Kasino truly lost his mind this time?"

"It's probably because she clocked him, right? Kid's obviously got a concussion."

"Last time, when someone disrespected Kenny outside, I got to see his older cousin Sid Royale cripple that guy! Do you think Sid would cripple Kasino for his aunt?"

"Yeah, now that you mention that, it makes him sound pretty stupid."

"Truly stupid."

"He's dreamy..."

"Truly dreamy."

"Wah… what are you two even talking about right now? What's dreamy?"

"He's so hot, obviously! Those eyes, those arms, that face. So tall."

"Did he get a little taller? I hadn't noticed."

The students couldn't believe the Riot kid had grown so audacious. Lucky's words were ruthless and accurate, stabbing into Scarlet Mercury like small blades with a sharp tip, and making her face turn a sickening shade of green. Her eyes looked like they would start bleeding acid. She had to operate her mental cultivation technique to calm down.

"All right, little punk," Scarlet Mercury withdrew her profound essence orb back into her body and sashayed to the door of the classroom. She opened it and step out before rolling out a large device. This device was shaped like a capsule, but it was the size of a full-grown adult male. It was covered in strange runes and lines that glowed and looked mystical. Scarlet Mercury sneered, "Since your so bad and so brave, Riot. Since you're too capable to listen to your teacher's lecture, and since you would rather flirt during homeroom, I've got just the thing. Step forward, let us see you step up to take the assessment first!"

"Isn't this what we were always doing today? Should I be afraid?" Lucky Riot was utterly fearless as he strode forward towards the device. The things he experienced in that strange daydream were silently affecting him. He knew he wouldn't be able to sort it out until he could open the Eye of Horus again. The sooner he was done with class, the sooner he could open his Eye of Horus.

"Wait!" A few rows in front of Margot Frenzy sat a tall boy with an angular face, whom Lucky had long since noticed would frequently steal glances at Maggie.

Merely, he was not the only male who looked at Maggie frequently. In Lucky's opinion, Maggie was growing more breathtaking every day. As such, this sort of attention was literally unavoidable. However, this handsome gent was the most prominent of such individuals in this setting. Lucky couldn't help but admit that this guy's bearing was elegant and gallant.

Lucky Riot was naturally aware of who this youth was, as he had known him since they were both kids at Thoth Elementary.

This was Kenneth Royale, and he belonged to the Royale family, which is one of the six leading factions. Kenneth has been said to possess incredible talent. He had shown a furious expression when he saw the way that Margot stared at Lucky with warmth in her eyes. Eyes, which were usually cold and brutal towards others, filled with intense pride that could eclipse the heavens.

Even Kenneth had only ever been greeted with such a gaze.

At this time, Kenneth Royale threw Lucky Riot another angry look as he blocked the path to the front. His height was slightly taller than Lucky, and his body was emitting a very light yin aura. The big breasted woman that attacked Lucky previously was this guy's aunt. Lucky touched Kenneth with his spiritual power and discovered that he was actually at the eighth level of the Hard Body Stage. Lucky Riot thought to himself, "So this is what is considered superior talent… eighth level Hard Body at sixteen. Not bad. I wonder who else has this cultivation..."

In fact, Kenneth Royale was the principal reason that this Scarlet Mercury made a move against Lucky Riot in the first place. Her eyesight and hearing were extremely sensitive, and she had heard the ambiguous conversation that Margot and Lucky were having. Margot Frenzy had a genuinely noble identity. She was the little princess of the Patriarch of the Frenzy Family, the cherished granddaughter of the legendary Spiritual Palace Stage warrior Renzo Frenzy.

She was an ultra-rare talent with an innate violet soul bridge. Scarlet had even heard rumors in the last few days that the girl had awakened an inheritance bone! Scarlet knew that the Frenzy family were all fey born. These kids probably didn't even know the significance of such things. If her nephew were able to have such a girl as his wife, the entire Royale Family would benefit in the future, and their position in the Central City would escalate further!

This was the reason he was enrolled in Thoth Academy years ago.

Furthermore, this was also one of the main reasons that Scarlet Mercury was teaching this class. To make sure her nephew appeared in the advanced courses with regal flair. Only then could they quickly leave the outer districts of Nibiru City for good and return to the Central City.

This Kenneth Royale had always been one of Maggie's many pursuers. Lately, he had apparently misunderstood the relationship between Lucky and Maggie, even going as far as thinking that Lucky was a pig trying to eat swan's meat. In reality, Lucky only recently stopped rejecting Maggie's advances. As of now, they were still just friends.

Of course, Lucky had no intention of clearing Kenneth's worries at all.

After all, who knew what would happen in the future?

He would leave it in the hands of fate. However, at that moment, he remembered Shreya Endless' words from before.

"Love, who I did not dare to love..." the memory of a distant voice that sounded similar to Lucky's own voice drifted to his mind. He suddenly thought that he had been afraid to pursue Margot Frenzy all of this while.

Why was that?

Simply because he was unavailable? Or worse, because he was unworthy?

Without the strength of his own, how could he pursue the school's angel? Lucky suddenly pitied his previous thoughts a lot. 'So it turns out I had become so cowardly, ah...'

Thinking up to here, Lucky couldn't help but laugh in his heart. Shreya Endless' words resonated deep in his heart. Perhaps they were one and the same after all. Lucky changed his attitude about it and decided to take Margot for himself. She had loved him all this time, why could he love her back? Now Lucky found himself wondering what trick this new clown on the stage wanted to show off.

"You are of low birth and of even lower talent. I don't know what forbidden technique you used to worm your way into our esteemed class again, but this facade ends here!" Kenneth Royale coldly snorted as he stepped out. How could he not know what his aunt thought when she got involved? At first, he was content to watch her make a fool out of the waste. However, now that it had reached this point, he would rather fight his own battles.

Kenneth felt determined to awaken Margot Frenzy from whatever this brat Lucky hypnotized her with, "For us legitimate warriors, this assessment is as important as life or death! You do not even honor your name enough to use it in public, commoner. Instead, we call you 'Lucky.' Or we call you my personal favorite, a waste! You are unworthy of being first! A sixth level Hard Body Stage cultivation that was clearly rushed. Your foundation is likely to sour like trash, I think I smell it from here. You won't last more than a moment in the original pressure chamber. Going first is an honor that belongs only to the strong!"

"Perhaps you are correct, little Kenny. He's nothing but a subpar cultivation base with a shallow foundation held together by extreme fitness. I'm certain this test is truly too much for one such as he," Scarlet Mercury took this moment to defuse the situation as she walked back onto the platform. After all, she was indeed responsible for these students now.

She stood tall and imposingly, as her eyes swept around the crowd. "For the next two years, I will be your homeroom teacher. Except for those who qualify for advanced classes today, you will all be my students. Both those who qualify for the Magi Class and those who can only choose the Warrior Class will be my charges. I know you heard the Magi say earlier that all students are to be treated equally. However, I am here to tell you that the concept of equality in the cultivation world is an illusion! It doesn't truly exist, and in this world, it never had before!"

Scarlet Mercury's voice was derisive and extremely shrill. Her words felt like spears of ice falling on to the heads of the commoner students around her. However, no one spoke a word below the platform while she continued, "These words may seem cruel to some of you. But once you experience the terror of the mystic beasts outside of the city, you will quickly realize how correct these words are! The talk of people being equal is a fantasy used to encourage youth. However, after reaching the age of sixteen, you all are young adults now. Many of you may choose to marry soon. The time for following children's tales has passed!"

Scarlet Mercury lowered her head and looked intensely at the passionate eyes of the noble students, "This is a new era. The first era where we know how to combat the dangerous beasts that have invaded our lands. We know how to train our bodies and minds to obtain new heights. The Myriad Beast War wiped out so much of human culture, and the Evil Renaissance that followed ensured that this history stayed hidden.

"Avaria is the last country on the Timeless Fey Continent with a predominantly human population. The rest of the continent has been overrun with other races, disasters, and Nightmare Beasts!"

"But teacher, what are the fey of Timeless Fey Continent? Are they part of the other races?" a commoner student asked nervously.

Scarlet Mercury, slowly looked at that student, who couldn't shoulder the gaze for even a second. Scarlet sneered and continued without answering that student,

"Within Avaria, there are two types of peak experts. Magi and Mystic Spiritualists. Regular mystic warriors amount to nothing in the face of these experts! In most places, a Mystic Spiritualist's existence is akin to royalty.

"Only a few experts within thousands of warriors will have a chance of being born as powerful Magi. Only one Magus among thousands, if not tens of thousands of Magi, can become a Mystic Spiritualist. It is totally dependent on heritage and luck. This is why the academies were established. To find those rarer than rare individuals and place them all in one sitting. Thus, maximizing our efforts in raising talent. Until now, in Nibiru City alone, only a bit more than 5,000 Magi exist, and among them, only around 30 people who have been confirmed as Mystic Spiritualists. Among these 30, they all follow one of twelve captains. The authority in Nibiru City is named directly after these twelve captains! We are the true guardians of Nibiru City, The Twelve Judgement Stars!"

"Teacher, but I heard that Silver Mercury killed the Twelve!" said another commoner girl.

"Can they even do so?" sneered Scarlet Mercury. "The organization known as the Twelve Judgement Stars is made up of members from the top six factions in the city. Who would be willing to offend us? This matter is far more complex then you kids can understand. You've been led astray by false intelligence. Silver Mercury Gang is less a mob of gangsters and more of an organized crime syndicate. They maintain a good relationship within many of the Top Families."