Lyle had wondered why Taylor made it into the top 50 of their class while Edward did not. Edward was studious and had excellent talent, the qualities Lyle thought was needed to place highly in the exam. So what made Taylor special?

The answer showed when Ms. Diana called out to her students. “Class someone was able to sense her qi on her first day. Let us all take a break and give applause to Ms. Taylor Mattams.”

For the last bell and a half, Lyle had been trying to concentrate on not thinking. He succeeded somewhat, Lyle thought that he could sense himself more, his beating heart, the small involuntary twitches of his muscles and the rapid movement of his closed eyes. Lyle clapped for Taylor, his friend since childhood and fellow students, and approached her together with their other friends.

“Nice one Taylor!” Lyle raised his hand and Taylor high fived him. “How did you do it?”

“I just did what teacher Diana told me to. I concentrated and felt this thing. It looks like I’ve been meditating before I sleep every night.” Taylor shrugged.

Huh. Lyle thought about what to say and couldn’t come up with one. Henry replied for everyone. “Looks like someone is talented. Didn’t you say you only have an average talent?”

“I do have average talent! Maybe I’m just a genius whose talent cannot be measured by the tools used by mortals!” Taylor proclaimed, her head held high and her arms spread. “Bow down mortals! Bow down before your overlord! But seriously, I think it’s just pure luck.”

Ms. Diana interrupted at that moment, her voice loud and clear even from the noise and clatter from Taylor’s accomplishment. “That was no accident. Why do you think you placed so high in the overall rankings despite you not having passed the secret test and having an average talent?”

The teacher had a point. “How can you test a person’s ability to meditate?” asked Henry. “I mean, you can but when did you test us for meditation?”

The brown-eyed woman displayed a coy smile. “The tests are what they only seem to be. Maybe in the future when you can conduct those tests yourself, you might be able to learn the intricacies of test making.”

The students stared at ms. Diana, some nodded while others hummed. “You have half a bell to practice, you may come and go here to meditate starting today but I will only be here between the 9th and 11th bell. You may do as you like, if you have any questions that are not stupid then ask me.” the teacher with her long hair swept a gaze before moving towards the only chair and desk at the corner of the room.

Lyle went back to meditation and so did the others. A few, Fredrick and Kurtis including, left the room but Lyle didn’t care. He focused inside. He continued to meditate until the 11th bell had passed.

He woke his friends from their meditations and went into the next class. “The next class is the Basics of cultivation right?” Lyle said

“Yeah, the next class is here too, if I’m right.” Irnel stretched and yawned.

“Did you sleep?”

“What, no!”

“Really?”

“...okay maybe a little, but I meditated seriously!”

“Okay, whatever you say.” Lyle snickered. They bantered some more, Chris sometimes saying something in between but never really talking in more than ten-word sentences and eventually the group that left returned. Maybe into a tenth of a bell, A woman with fire-red hair entered. Lyle remembered her as the woman who oversaw the 4th test. She also brought her golden circle object, that she would look at from time to time.

“You may have recognized me from the 4th enrollment test. My name is Joella Mills. Teacher Mills, ms. Mills or Scholar Mills are the only names you are allowed to call me. That is the extent of our relationship.” Ms. Mills strutted to the front of the room. “Form five lines, ten people in each line. You have 50 heartbeats to do it. Start now.” The red-haired teacher looked at her handheld device.

Lyle and Irnel shared a glance then made a line in the middle with Chris at their back. The trio was soon followed by a lot of the students. Lyle and the others were finished lining up with a few students still milling at the edges. “Time is up. The rest of you not in the line, leave.”

The group of people who did not fall in line began protesting before three heartbeats passed. The black-eyed teacher spoke once more. “That was not a request. Either go out now and have a chance to listen to the lesson tomorrow or be kicked out now and never come back.”

Silence suddenly descended like a blanket thrown over the bed. The other students began walking away. Once the last student went away, Ms. Mills locked the door and faced her class.

“Let’s begin.” The teacher went to the front of the standing class. “Every morning at the start for at least half a bell, I will be going to teach you about the cultivation world. The second part of the cultivation class will be spent in discussion about various topics. The first class will have no lesson first and would be an introduction to the subject. Any queries you have will be answered at the end of this lesson.” Lyle held off his question, him blurting it out might make him leave.

“During the lesson, you will sit down however you like so long as you do not get out of the mat. You will stand up when answering my question and when I say so. And you are to answer when asked a question. Am I understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Let’s finish this lesson with homework, ask someone what they know about cultivation. Dismissed, you can go.”

Lyle and his friends got up and went to the cafeteria.

“Our cultivation teacher was intense, I thought that I’d get kicked out or something,” Irnel said in his high voice. He shivered and continued the walk. “How about you guys, what did you think about her?”

Lyle shrugged. “I had tutors that strict before. I know how to behave when she’s around. I hope she can teach me about cultivation, I’ve heard stories about them but never ones explaining the inner workings of cultivators.”

Henry chimed in. “Yeah, so did I. Those teachers were the worst. They smack my hands at the slightest mistakes. It’s like they enjoy seeing their students get hurt.”

“Fools! I never got disciplined because I actually study so I like my teachers.” Taylor practically bragged to the group.

“What about you Chris?” Irnel Looked at Chris, the stoic man had a pensive face on.

“I think she’s going to be a great teacher,” Chris said

Nel walked faster to face his new friends and walked backward. “Huh? How can you say that? We’d, like, never been taught by her yet.”

Chris stayed silent for a moment. “The head of the orphanage in our town is very strict. He would punish the children for their little mistakes and they would often cry.”

“What’s that got to do with ms. Mills?”

Chris looked at Nel and shook his head. “I’m getting there. The teacher was, to everyone’s shock, was also the reason most of the people in the orphanage gives donations. He was responsible for the success of many orphans, some of them even being cultivators.”

“Still didn’t answer my question,” Nel said in a sing-song voice

Lyle interrupted them. “I think what is trying to say is that ms. Mills may be strict but she does it to improve and teach us.” Chris smiled and nodded at Lyle’s words.

“Hey Nel, what are you going to eat today?” Lyle asked

“Who the heck is Nel?” Irnel asked, confusion written over his face.

“Um, it’s your nickname, Irnel is too long so I shortened it.” Lyle tried to not show the nervousness inside him.

“Hm… Nel, that sounds good! Alright, call me Nel from now on! You too Chris.”

The trio with Lyle’s friends walked toward the cafeteria and ate in between their conversation.

The group separated and went to their respective classes. Lyle did a double-take when he saw that not only Nel but also Chris went to the same class.

“Why are you here Chris? I would have thought that being a farmer made you strong enough.” Lyle wondered out loud, not really expecting a reply.

“Being a farmer makes you strong, not being able to fight,” Chris said. The big man had a point, a farmer does not make a good warrior without training.

The 1st-afternoon bell sounded and Lyle and his roommates entered the room. The room was big, as big as the testing hall in the multi-purpose building. They were currently in a circular room inside the training tower on the first floor. Lyle could see a number of the new freshmen with them and some of the old freshmen as well. If Lyle had to guess the number he would say about three hundred.

A man showed up. It was, surprisingly, Mr. Greg. “Good morning class. Now before we start, you need to form fifteen lines, hold out your arms so that you won’t hit each other when moving.” The students did as Mr. Greg asked. After they were evenly spread out Mr. Greg nodded. “Good. that will serve as your space when we practice the forms. You will be here from the 1st bell to the 3rd bell and I will teach you the basic forms of the academy’s martial art. Remember the name. It is called Agua Fomar, translated it means the form of water. Since you’re all here let’s start the training. Ten laps around the room.”

Lyle and his classmates groaned but still complied with their teacher’s request. They ran for the rest of the second bell.

“Freaking hell! I can’t believe we still have to run! I’m tired of this!” Nel panted his hands on his legs barely able to keep himself up. “I thought that the 10 laps we did were hard, this room is harder to run in! Arghhhh. I just want this to be over.”

Mr. Greg must have heard Nel. The teacher faced his almost dying students. “The laps you ran will be the norm before we start the forms, you will run 10 laps from today until the end of the school year.” Groans filled the room, even those that thought that they couldn't speak. Mr. Greg only chuckled. Lyle heard someone say “the sadist”. “This will be all for today, we meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You are dismissed.”

Lyle and his roommates separated from here. Lyle had basic math next and still had one hour to kill so he wandered around the campus. He ended up in the guardhouse.

There he met Terry, eating a piece of bread with jam and meat. “Hey, Lyle! How’s the first day of school going for you?” Terry said in between bites. “Do you want some?” Terry offered his sandwich

“No thanks, I’m good. I have this assignment. Can you help me out?”

“Yeah sure. What is it?”

“We have to ask someone what cultivation is. Can you help me?”

Terry smiled with teeth. “Sure! I may be only at the mind cleansing stage but I’m still a cultivator. Now let’s see. Cultivation is a way for people to defy the heavens. What that means is that people disobey the laws placed upon by the world.” Terry nodded slowly, a content smile on his face.

Lyle scrunched his eyebrows. After a few minutes, Lyle gave up. “What? I did not understand anything about what you said.”

Terry laughed. “Let me explain it this way. What have you heard about cultivators? From legends, stories, and myths?”

“Oh, I can answer that! Cultivators live long lives and can carry mountains and call down lightning and can even fly!”

“Right, do normal people fly? Or can they walk on walls?”

“Of course not! That’s why cultivators are so cool!”

“That’s what it means to be a cultivator! To be able to do things no one else can do. Can anything call down lightning upon their enemies? Move faster than sound? That’s what it means to defy the heavens!”

“Ohh… okay. So what now? What is cultivation?”

“I’m getting to that, impatient brat.”

“Hey! No, I’m not!”

Terry decided to ignore the boy. “Cultivation is the method to do those things.”

Lyle’s eyes widened and nodded to Terry. “I got it! But how do I cultivate?”

“Ahh, the famous question. How to become a cultivator. Don’t rush young grasshopper, all will come in time and in your cultivation class.”

“Thanks for the advice, sir Terry. Do you have any news from the outside?”

Terry’s previous joyful demeanor changed. His eyes became sharp and his mouth formed into a thin line. “Nothing good.”

“What happened? Did something happen?”

Terry leaned in, eager for gossip and so was Lyle. It was getting kind of boring and the news was always good. “There have been rumors that kids in the street are disappearing.”

What? Lyle recalled that Nell was from the streets. “Do you know where the people from the street go?”

“That’s the problem, people don’t care about the homeless, so they don’t care and some are even grateful because the ‘dirt and mess are gone’. I pity the poor children if you tell me.”

“Do you have any idea where the children are vanishing into?”

Terry put on a contemplative face and moved his face away from Lyle. “It didn’t come from me but I think that rouge cultivators are abducting them and making experiments on them.”