Chapter Eight - What if I win? part 2

"Damn, it was fake news!"

"Wow!"

There was a small commotion, but Scarlet raised a hand, and the room fell silent again. She enjoyed such a feeling a lot. Noticing this, Lucky Riot sneered inwardly, sitting on top of the desk of the commoner girl who asked a question before.

"L..Luc... ah," this girl got incredibly nervous when today's Lucky sat near her. She felt like her heart may explode at any moment now. Lucky glanced at the girl and flash her a warm smile before turning his attention back to the bombshell at the front of the room, "Let me borrow your desk for a second, Ricky."

Seeing him smiling at her, Ricky suddenly felt faint.

"S... Okay." Ricky bit her lip in embarrassment, wishing she could think straight enough to talk with Lucky like when they were kids. However, Lucky looked manly today. Ricky almost passed out when he smiled at her.

"What a power-hungry bigot," Lucky grumbled in his mind. If only she weren't so incredibly good looking, Lucky simply wouldn't care about Scarlet Mercury at all. "My hormones have seriously been challenging to deal with lately. Is this what they call blooming late?"

If Mrs. Mercury was unappealing or even just an average level of pretty, Lucky wouldn't hesitate to rebel. Too bad for him, she was a complete babe. Every time she swayed her maximized hips, her perk buttocks would jiggle most endearingly. Sometimes he couldn't bear to look away.

"Warriors and Spiritualists follow the process of tempering the body through the practice of essence cultivation. The Hard Body Stage of the Essence Path's Mystic Essence Realm has ten levels, and the higher the level, the more powerful one is. This should be obvious for those of noble birth," Scarlet Mercury cut her eyes at Lucky Riot and few other students before continuing, "Then, after that is the Profound Orb Stage, where one must refine their lifeblood into profound essence blood. Past the Mystic Essence Realm, there is the legendary Spirit Essence Realm. There are only three Spirit Essence Realm practitioners in all of Nibiru City. As for the Magi Path, it is divided into ranks, beginning at Rank 1: Apprentice Magus."

"What rank are you, Mrs. Mercury?" asked a stylish boy in the third row. He wore overalls and had long dreaded brown hair fashioned into a fresh style on top of his head. Lucky recognized this youth as Caine Sinatra, one of the genius' of the class.

"This little lady has achieved Silver Rank 2: Junior Magus," responded Scarlet Mercury complacently. This Sinatra clan brat was a known genius of the Advanced Academy, so she would answer him seriously. The only reason he was taking the assessment was that he chose to do so, "Magi path experts have been further divided into ranks of Bronze, Silver, Gold, Prism, and Legend ranks. However, it can be more difficult to increase your subrank than your actual rank. Merely, once you reach the next rank, your subrank will only fall by one rank at the most."

"So what is it that increases your subrank?" asked Lucky Riot once curiosity got the best of him. He may not like the teacher, but he still needed to learn. Would she dare refuse to educate him?

"The same thing that separates you and my nephew. Quality," replied Scarlet Mercury. Lucky's gaze grew visibly colder after hearing the teacher's words. Indeed, she dared to refuse to educate him. Scarlet Mercury smirked, continuing, "If a family produces a Bronze Rank Magus, they become an aristocratic family. If a family produces a Silver Rank Magi, they can become a noble family. If a family produces three or more Silver Rank Magi or a Gold Rank Magi, then they can become a faction."

"Mrs. Mercury, I still don't get it. How do Magi decide ranks and sub-ranks?" ask a beautiful female student who wore her hair in pigtails. This girl was one of the last faces Lucky had seen before his coma, Aubrey Graham! He couldn't help but admire this girl who had suddenly gone from being really cute, to becoming a total babe on Maggie's level. A single year could change a lot of things!

In fact, Aubrey knew the answer to her question. She only thought it was unfair to the other students that the matter wasn't adequately explained. As the class president, Aubrey felt that this was something to should concern herself with. It definitely wasn't because she got upset at how the teacher was treating Lucky, and she definitely wasn't sneaking peeks at him because she wanted to see if he noticed.

"Quality of magic, my dear. I am sure you have heard some of this from your father, you don't need me to show you. At this school, we only teach you the basics of magic unless you exceed the level of the advanced class' base criteria. I would think your father had taught you this as well, darling." Scarlet Mercury sat on the desk of one of the male students. "There are many things I can't tell you. What I can say to you is that you can improve your Magi subrank by proving the quality of your mana is at a certain level. Increasing the quality of your mana is incredibly difficult, and one must have the proper heritage usually."

"Becoming a Magus doesn't sound so simple..." thought Lucky inwardly.

"We have 31 students here today. Some of you come from noble households, and others may even originate from another faction. This is an advantage," Scarlet Mercury smiled and nodded politely at all the young nobles in the class as if they were peers. The young nobles all subconsciously wore proud looks when hearing this.

Many of these arrogant fellows swallowed this treatment up like lunch meat. They were saluting or fawning over this woman.

"Others are commoners and vagabonds who managed to struggle this far," as she uttered the term 'Vagabond' Scarlet Mercury's gaze finally landed back on Lucky Riot. She continued unhurriedly, "My advice to you all? Call it quits. Find a line of work and gain some stability for yourself. You'll never step foot outside of this secular world for as long as you live, for you'll surely die once you do. You'll never experience the actual Disaster County. Everyone's starting point at this school may be equal, but your identities outside of these walls were never that. What can a commoner do to become an aristocrat? What business do you have walking shoulder to shoulder with those whom you will be forced to bow in front of in the not so distant future?

"Talent is hereditary. Do not fool yourselves. If you have a common background, you will never become a noble! In fact, even within the noble ranks, there are still levels to this. These levels are strict and specific, not all nobles are equal. Swine cannot eat the flesh of swans! Gaining more strength is far more difficult than you can imagine. Please consider your future carefully."

Sitting beneath the gaze of Scarlet Mercury, many of the commoner students, who were dressed frugally, lowered their heads out of embarrassment and dejection. They were all highly uncomfortable, especially after being brutally aggressed by the rules of society, as they were so eloquently reminded by their homeroom teacher.

Many nobles held their heads up high with their chests pointed out, and the arrogance in the air was so thick that it was nearly tangible. Even Scarlet Mercury herself stood there proudly as if she was the noblest of all existences. Only Margot Frenzy, Lucky Riot, and a few others remained silent and unaffected.

Lucky didn't really have any good feelings towards most of his classmates, but he was on good terms with a few of them. Three of which were commoners, including Ricky. After experiencing Scarlet Mercury's contemptuous words and cruel smile, Lucky was already focusing very hard not to lose his temper. His blood was always on the verge of exploding, especially after the teacher assaulted him earlier.

Had it not been for that vision he experienced, he would be far less calm.

"Hmph, listen well, you punk. Low born filth like you should never associate yourself with…" Kenneth Royale started running his mouth in a near whisper, in an attempt to see Lucky's terrified or enraged face.

However, as he spoke, Lucky stood up and casually stepped past him as if Kenneth wasn't even there. Maggie giggled at this, and Kenneth Royale grimaced further. How dare this waste embarrass him in front of his future wife! He immediately raised his voice in anger, "HEY PUNK! I'M TALKING TO…"

"Teacher Mercury, I have another question," came the slow and deep voice of Lucky Riot, as he just ignored this rambling baboon who sought attention.

All the students observing quietly were shocked to see this. That was the mad mortal for you. He had never placed anyone in his eyes before. Whether he was weaker or stronger, it was all the same! This brat demanded his due respect, he refused to be looked down on. He even spoke brazenly to the teacher, who had already taught him a lesson once before. An experience which occurred mere moments ago.

Considering the actions she had taken against Kasino earlier, who would've believed that he would retaliate? He ignored the words of Kenneth Royale, who was one of the strongest apprentice-level warriors in the class, and chose this moment to continue speaking out!

Everyone was aware of the relation between Kenneth and Teacher Mercury. That was why the teacher shot down Kasino's last question!

"What do you want to ask, boy?" Scarlet coldly snorted.

"You just said that Avaria is humanity's last haven on this continent, that all other humans have suffered from the evils that exist beyond the country's border. My question is, has the teacher ever left Nibiru City? Did you travel outside of Avaria before, like to the Valley of Queens, or the Esperanza Fault? The Lucid Mountains, or the Cannibal Jungle? Can you name some historical landmarks? What proof do you have that nothing but disaster exists on the outside? Aren't you just listening to what you've been told by the progenitors of this lower level society?"

Lucky Riot was no fool. In fact, he was incredibly smart. He could quickly able to deduce that the teacher's earlier words were mainly targeting him, as she had already mistaken him for a typical commoner previously. Although Lucky could technically be considered a commoner, he grew up in Acadia, where they didn't go out of their way to hide so many things from commoners and mortals. His step-father was one of the most influential people in the city, in spite of technically being a commoner. Lucky never really understood why his step-father didn't pursue a noble rank even though he possessed the qualifications.

Lucky knew enough about the world outside of Disaster County. After hearing the arrogant way this woman spoke, he completely removed her from his eyes. She was unworthy of even feigned respect. Lucky's mother would take himself and his sisters on vacation to a different location every year when he returned from school. He had met many people who claim to not be from Avaria, although many of them were not human. Of course, now that Lucky thought about it clearly, he found it weird that his mother was able to travel around the continent so easily.

How strong was his mother again? It seemed he had never considered this question before.