The examination carried on for the rest of the day.

The testing block did not break again, and the queue quickly shortened.

The students finally recognise that the Snowdrifts has become the strongest group in their year.

The average cultivation ranking of its members are a little stronger than Luciette’s group, and a tinge weaker than Calculus’ group. However, among the top fighters, there is simply no contest against the Snowdrifts.

The strongest is definitely Kairos, who is on a tier of his own, followed by his teammates, Edward, Jim, Alan and Tommy. After that, it is the 4 captains, Long, John, Silvers and Sasha. Calculus is only at tenth place, ranked after them.

Positioned next are those that had reached D rank, Luciette, Alucard, and Calculus’ four bodyguards.

With the top nine positions taken up by the Snowdrifts, the guys cheered loudly, triumphant before the others.

In high spirits, they are obviously showing off the might of the group, and even Alan and the team gave proud smiles to everyone their eyes met. Kairos did not stop them.

Having a past as the lowest rung of cultivation ranking and months of being victims of being looked down upon, most of them had developed a seed of inferiority buried deeply within. This minor success became a splendid opportunity to remove their self-doubt, if even only a little.

Most students, which are at E rank and below, could hardly believe how far ahead are the leaders of Snowdrifts. In usual times, the news of even one B ranker appearing within the second years would be enough to create a ripple through the academy. Although there are no bottlenecks from D to B rank, the process is still time-consuming, and unlikely for anyone to attain. For them to have five B rankers is an unpreceded event.

“Just what kind of thing did they do to reach this level?”

“I’ve heard rumours that they went to the Silent Lambs Empire and turned that place into the Slaughtered Lambs Empire.”

The room became quiet instantly. They understand the meaning behind raising levels before the face of death. It is possible for anyone to have a growth spurt when faced with truly critical situations.

Earning C and B ranks this way is truly something well deserved, because of the risks involved.

But the students were not hushed because of how the Snowdrifts had gained their ranks.

“Are you kidding me? They dare to create a mess in the Phrixus’ territory? What if our school is targeted because of this?”

“No, they didn’t just create a mess. I heard that they brought a group of our Saint Empire elites, went in and beat up the Phrixus’ troops until they are incapable of anger.

This quietness is the proof.

If we really are targeted, the Phrixus’ modus operandi is to publicly announce the ones they are after, then capture and horribly torture each person on their list to death.”

Perhaps only those who knew the truth will realise that there are far too many details are throw out in this discussion. Because of the sensitive nature of what happened in the Silent Lambs Empire, Emperor Galahad decided to control the information by planting the rumours he wanted on the streets.

The others that heard what was just said shuddered with fright.

Most of them had already heard rumours of the inhuman practices of the Silent Lambs Empire’s royal family floating around before. With the tension between the two neighbouring empires running high, everyone will want to know how bad the situation would be for them if they entered a war and lost.

No matter what station one is in, from the lowest of the low-born to the highest of the aristocrats, there is no exception to those who contemplated this question.

The conclusion everyone came to are the same: If they are on the other side when the Phrixus takes over, then it is better to be dead.

Few know that the Phrixus weren’t always this cruel. Only the older living generations could remember a time when there was peace between the two empires. But everything changed when the Queen of the Silent Lambs Empire went mad with malice and spite.

No one knew the reason how this madness came about, though there were many unfounded hearsays. The people talked among themselves, and stories of grief and vengeance that caused the Queen her mind floated around, yet nothing was ultimately proven.

Kairos who studied Thief King’s records, however, believes that it might be the work of a fragment of a Devil.

Under her regime, the smaller Empire reformed its rules and took extremely inhumane measures against their enemies. While the world became enraged by their new stance, it also struck fear in their foes and it turned into the driving force that helped them rapidly expand their borders. Thus, Emperor Axtaius turned a blind eye.

The Queen eventually died, burned out by her own unceasing flames of rage. Yet, the terror did not end after her demise. The Princess Axtalia had taken a liking to what her mother’s ways, quickly taking over the seemingly endless cruelty.

No one in the room, except those who participated in the Silent Lambs expedition, know that the retaliation they expected was nipped in the bud with the slaying of the Princess, Syriong and the Phantoms.

After the examinations are completed, the students immerse themselves with conversation while they wait to be assigned their fundamental classes.

Depending on their cultivation rank and past year results, the academy will select suitable subjects that can groom the talents of the average students. While those with the highest cultivation rankings are sent to the genius class.

Of course, the term 'average' is relative, with Saint Cadets Academy being one of the top-most elite school, simply for being close to the empire's capital.

As usual, the cut-off requirement for the top students in second year is D ranking or above. This year, however, it turns out that there are 16 such individuals when previously only one or two qualifies.

Except for Combat Classes, which is compulsory for all students, those belonging to the genius class are given a right to choose whichever subjects they wish to learn, and each of them is handed a list of modules they can enrol in.

There are:

Runes Weaving Class Runic Engraving Class Formations & Arrays Class Talisman Creation Class Seal Creation Class Combat Class Beast Taming Blacksmithing Class Pill Creation Class War tactics & Commander Course

Ten courses to choose from in total.

However, most of the 16 are not given the complete list. Depending on their past result, some classes may not be available for their choosing.

Kairos stared at his own sheet with a frown on his face. With his poor academic score, he shouldn’t be offered half of the list he is given, yet the full selection is in his hands.

His frown deepened. Beast taming, in particular, is something he had no prior knowledge before meeting Snow.

“I think they gave us all the options,” Edward whispered with amazement to the gang.

“In that case, then, I’m going to sign up on everything,” Jim said greedily.

“Why not.” Tommy nodded his head.

“That’s settled then!” Alan laughed.

The guys gave Edward a hint with their eyes. They know that overloading their module is foolishness and Kairos would object. For the five of them that failed their academics the first year, to think they can handle every subject is definitely foolhardy and arrogant.

“My… are you guys sure? Some of the courses seem useless for us.” As Edward said with his voice oozing with doubt and drama, but his action is completely different as he quickly side-stepped towards Kairos and stole the sheet out of his captain’s hands.

“Quickly!!” The guys said, and they ticked off everything on Kairos’ selections.

“Done. We are all signed up on everything.”

Kairos rolled his eyes and said, “We will be overloaded. And I don’t even have a Contract Beast.”

The beast crystal eggs that he has is still lying dormant within his time-space pouch, and Aisa technically isn’t his contract beast. If he enters the Beast Taming course, he will be far behind the others.

“Heh heh. Boss, just think of it as accompanying us brothers. Don’t you want to?”

“Fine fine,” Kairos rolled his eyes again.

The group cheered. Partly happy about the companionship, and partly that they might win Kairos in a class at least, they submitted their list after choosing their courses and prepared for class the next day.

That evening, all the students entered the dining hall, and they sat in rows facing the instructors and the Principal.

The students are arranged in rows by their year, with the most senior at the front and the youngest at the back.

The Principal stood up to address the students before the dinner starts. He tapped his glass for their attention, then after clearing his throat, he said, “Welcome back to Saint Cadets Academy.

Like every year, we will be hosting the combat competition. Most of you had heard of this before, but for the sake of the 2nd years, I will be repeating the rules.

The competition will start tomorrow and ends in 6 months’ time. Every student, from the second year to the fifth year, will participate.

Those that accumulated 5 losses will be forfeited, but since there are no punishments for losing, so go ahead and fight without fear. It is our tradition to not implement punishment for failure and instead, encourage growth.

Each of you must have at least one battle per week. You may send a challenge to any participating student. If you received a challenge yourself, it must be completed within three days. Otherwise, it will be considered a loss to the receiver.

You may only challenge each person once without repeats, except for those who already forfeited, and you must complete all your challenges by the end of six months.

I expect all of you to participate fairly.

Now, for the prizes. Only the top three shall receive rewards. This year, we have arranged items that you can all look forward to.

The third place will receive a Beast Ranked Weapon of their choice, and that includes the Star Runes Weapon Series from the Snowdrifts' shop.

The second place, a Beast Ranked Time-Space Ring.

And, the first place, a Weapon Spirit.”

The crowd cheered in amazement at the rich rewards. Those confident in their abilities already planning how to achieve the prize they desired.

With the announcement over, the Principal indicated for dinner to begin. Now that the formalities are done, the hall immediately burst into bustling conversations.

Taking the moment of activity, Tommy curiously asked Snow who is sitting beside him, “What is a weapon spirit?”

The girl turned to look at the group, knowing that all 5 boys needed her knowledge, and she shouted over the noise, “It is an ancient relic found from the most dangerous ruins in the Empire. Legend says that the ruins hailed from a time where gods walk amongst men, and only within such places could the most powerful artefacts be found.

Unfortunately, the defences within ruins are still active, and it’s supremely difficult to retrieve anything from it.

Rumours has it that the relic itself was found by our Emperor, after surviving an ambush from 8 triple S ranking Stone Guardians.

It is actually a soul container keeping an artificial spirit, which you can infuse into your weapon.

It will slowly grow within its new home, and depending on the grade of your item, it will grant your weapon with miraculous abilities.”

“Weapon spirit?” Kairos thought back to the dragonlings within his Swallow. But Aisa quickly told him that they are different.

While the rewards for 2nd and 3rd place are meaningless for Kairos, the Weapon Spirit sounded rather alluring, even if it is only to sate his curiosity.

“What…” Kairos began.

“What does it do?” Jim asked excitedly.

“Hmm, a Weapon Spirit is a rare thing, and I am not very sure what it can do…” Snow starts saying.

“Whaaa..? Even Snow is unsure?” Tommy asked, thoroughly shocked.

“Hey, I’m not all-knowing okay? But you’re cute to think so.”

“Whoa!” The others exclaimed when the business-like Snow suddenly dropped the bomb.

When the others stared at her, she finally realised what she said to Tommy, and her entire face turned red.

Not only Snow, but now Tommy joined her in blushing just as badly.

When Jim and Alan wanted to tease them, Kairos and Edward quickly stopped the two.

“D…Don’t worry, you two please continue…” Edward says politely while covering Alan’s mouth and dragging the person away.

“Mmhpfh…?!”

“T..the..the the the the… The Weapon Spirit Should Be Able To Shapeshift Your Weapon!” Snow cried out loudly before she ran away.

Seeing her escaping figure, Kairos who is holding on to Jim looked at Tommy and commanded, “Go after her!”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, it just felt correct to do so!”

“But what do I say to her after I caught up?”

“Hey, are you one to think things through so clearly before you act?” Kairos chided.

“Right… Okay, I’m going!” Tommy said and ran off.

Half an hour later, Tommy came back to the dining hall with Snow walking slightly behind him.

The two seemed to have reached some sort of an agreement, and their relationship progressed a little.

But Leaf who was next to Snow before her sister ran off, have a playful grin on her face.

She turned to Edward and gave him a wink, causing the archer to tremble slightly.

Seeing Edward shyly turn away, Leaf thought privately, “He is definitely the cutest among the group… Well, Kairos is really cuteeeeee as well! But…”

Though the mysterious yet ethereal aura about Kairos makes him attractive to those who knows him, many girls privately felt that he is far too illustrious to obtain.

Because of his charisma, and how Kairos carried himself, they have a tendency to idolise him instead of fantasising a relationship. Though, the person himself, having little experience in this area, did not know how the others think.

…..

The very next day, Kairos received his first challenge.

A battle with Calculus, and a rematch between the two.