“I don’t accept this!” complained an expelled student from 1B. He stood up from his chair, loudly addressing his concerns to Avell. “My father and mother paid a hefty amount of money so I can get in here. And what did we do to be granted an expulsion, classes haven’t even started yet!”

Avell stopped walking down the stage to look at the student who complained. Her eyes were blank and empty. She was looking down at him as if he was a pile of trash. “Dani Krowe. You moved in at the dorms about 18 days ago. During that time, we received seven reports of perversion, destruction of school property, and attempted sexual assault of your female classmates.”

Dani suddenly fell from being irrationally angry to insanely distraught and depressed. The disciplinary head brought him down without any filter and regard for his status.

“My father will hear about this!”

Avell instantly pointed his finger towards him, and a beam of condensed flame fired out of her finger. Adrian felt the air sear as it went above him and—

BAM!

A large part of the fence was destroyed, creating a wide opening that led to the orange forest. Rubble was scattered all over the back, but the distance was far enough from the back row of seats that it wasn’t a cause for concern.

It was more than enough to scare all of the students into silence and submission.

“Feel free to tell your father everything about this. Krowe Family, right? Be thankful that the Academy invalidates all public laws inside school territory, lest you bring inexplicable shame to your family. Or else, would you prefer to tell them everything, instead?” Avell retained her same, expressionless stare while speaking with Dani from a distance.

At that point, Dani and the other students who got expelled gave up. They scrambled out of their seats and ran away from everyone’s sight.

“Public laws do not apply in Academy territory? What does that mean?” Adrian asked himself, but he hoped that the myriad of questions in his mind would be answered soon.

He realized that the Academy doesn’t take its students lightly, regardless of their status. They could be nobles or even royalty, and the school wouldn’t bat an eye on them if they were getting bit by a three-headed monster.

An old man with silver hair whom he assumed to be the Headmaster went up the stage. While he didn’t seem intimidating unlike Avell, his aura was full of gentle charisma. His next words didn’t seem all that welcoming, however.

“You may be surprised at what just previously happened but expect regular expulsions from here on out. May I remind you that this is a military school, not a noble’s luxury private school? Do not be fooled by the comfort brought by our facilities, as everything in this school is designed as a challenge for you to overcome,”

The Headmaster continued speaking, “I have but one tip for you all—consider everything a continuous test, but never be too tense. Find a way to integrate the school’s values and principles into yourself without putting an active effort. There is…”

Adrian’s thoughts wandered once again while he was still actively listening to the Headmaster’s speech. He could deduce one probable hypothesis from his words.

They, the students, were being watched.

Or maybe, the school had a medium that allowed them to view students from afar.

Could it be the teachers? Other assigned students?

Is the whole school under their surveillance?

Why is it necessary—

Adrian looked at the Headmaster, calling the student representative to speak for them at the ceremony, “I call on our student representative, Djuri! The esteemed Vestora Family adopted him when he was a kid, unknowingly the fact that he was born with an immensely strong essence core! He is currently known as the Breathing Dragon and the savior of the State of Rodoma, after the emergence of the dungeons in the urban state a year ago.”

Djuri went up the podium as the Headmaster was still recognizing his achievements as if to say to the other students that they’ll never reach his level.

While Adrian has heard about the Rodoma Emergence, where half of the geographical land of the state has been closed off due to dungeons emerging in the area. Never has he known that a 15-year-old like him was the one who saved the state from being entirely consumed by monsters.

Needless to say, Adrian wasn’t interested in listening to his speech.

—●—●—●—●—●

After the opening ceremony, Adrian walked with his classmates to Room 1A. Barely anyone talked to each other after knowing that they were being surveilled, fearing that they may get caught doing something that can earn them a free ticket out of this school.

Even their class had a small board allotted for class seating inside their room. There were only four rows of seats, the backmost row having two empty seats. Adrian sat on the far back just beside the window, and by some sheer coincidence, Kiara was sitting beside him.

The pair were the only ones in the back row.

“Ah! What a coincidence, the person with anger issues, we’re sitting beside each other!” The pink-haired president was smiling enthusiastically. Everyone was currently seated in their respective positions.

“I’ll let that insult slide for once…” Adrian sighed.

Not long after, their homeroom teacher entered the room.

She was carrying three boxes of what Adrian assumed to be books, which she was carrying with relative ease. Once she set it down on the floor, she patted down her outfit and introduced herself.

“Good morning, 1A,” Imperium Master Shayan greeted. She had black shoulder-length hair with blue-framed glasses. Shayan was a striking beauty, but she seemed to be too young to be a teacher. In comparison to the other teachers with wrinkly faces and aged hair, Shayan was technically a child.

“Master Shayan,” Someone raised their hand, somewhere in the third row.

“Yes, Kaval?” Shayan answered.

“How old are you?” Kaval asked in monotone.

All 13 students had the same collective thoughts, “This guy absolutely has no filter!” or “How could you ask that to a lady?!”

“Hmm?” Shayan raised her brow.

While everyone was expecting some kind of violent reaction, their teacher answered him nonchalantly.

“I’m 19. I’m currently the youngest teacher in the history of Imperial Elem, but you must all still address me as “Master Shayan.” This goes for all of you. Do you understand?”

“Yes!” Everyone collectively spoke.

“Good,” Shayan grabbed a pen from her pocket, and she used it to write something on the blackboard. The “pen ink” was white but it glowed a faint blue, and whenever she made a mistake, all it took for her was a small hand gesture to remove it completely.

Shayan wrote three words.

“Law, Money, Status.”

She slammed the blackboard hard enough that it reverberated all across the room.

“These three don’t matter!” She declared, “You will be recognized according to your active skills and achievements in the Academy. Any of the professors and neither do I give a care in the world about your status as a noble or royalty. If you think that you’re strong because you passed the entrance exams, think again. At this point, consider yourself as the weakest person in the Academy.”

Shayan continued speaking, “The school system simulates an environment that is entirely different from the empire. This is to show if new students can quickly adapt to a new type of environment without being informed of it beforehand. It is only one of the many reasons why the school handbook has not been given at the start.”

“Fiat currency is worthless. Gold coins, silver coins—any of them. Instead, you will use currency exclusive to Imperial Elem students called D-Coins,” Shayan pulled out a coin from her pocket. Instead of a rough metallic finish like a normal coin, the D-Coin was a chromatic silver color.

“These coins are equivalent to 1 gold coin. You also don’t need to carry them all the time, since they can be stored within your Status Band.”

Shayan opened one of the boxes she set on the floor and grabbed a wristband accessory. It was also glowing a faint blue and it has a black rectangular object attached above it.

“This Status Band will show you all of your active and passive skills, summons, elemental affinities, power level, and D-Coins. It is an extension of your essence core profile with additional status readings. Losing your Status Band will merit you an instant expulsion if you fail to find it within three days.”

Shayan took a deep breath, as if to rest herself from the constant speaking.

She continued talking for the last time, “Lastly, public laws do not apply here. The school operates on a special set of laws. There is an entire section dedicated to these laws in your handbook, but don’t worry about having to read them as soon as you can. It doesn’t differ from normal laws, just like how world crimes are punishable through the law, it is through expulsion in this system.”

And with that, it seemed their homeroom teacher was finally done introducing the basics of what they needed to know.

“The rest is up to you. Class President Kiara!”

“Yes!” Kiara stood up. All eyes were on her.

“Your first task is to distribute these boxes full of student handbooks and status bands. I’ll let you handle everything from this point. Call me in the staff room if there are any questions.” The Imperium Master walked out of the room after receiving an enthusiastic response from Kiara.

Everyone’s mood seemed to improve almost instantly after Kiara stood up front.

“What a pretty girl!”

“Her pink hair looks so surreal…”

…were some mutters Adrian was overhearing.

“Hello! I’m sure some of us know already from the moving-in period, but let’s introduce ourselves! I’m Kiara Syhold. I love to make friends and have long talks over the night, so you can approach me anytime and talk to me about whatever!”

“I’ll go next!” His classmate volunteered, “My name is Dust Felkin. I am the current head of the Felkin family and the State Lord of Donura, and I read books in my spare time.”

“You’re a state lord?! Aren’t you too young to run a state?” One of his classmates followed up.

Dust answered, “That’s true but I’m the only one in my lineage who is qualified to do so. I’m still a student though, so Mother is currently in charge of what’s supposed to be my work for as long as I’m a student in the Academy.”

The Da’argard Imperium is a conservative patriarchal empire, so males always inherit the family head regardless of age. The only circumstance queens and princesses are allowed to inherit the highest position for a family is when there are no more males in the lineage to do so.

While they were all introducing themselves, Adrian included, Kiara was passing the status bands one by one to each student. With the last band being handed to Adrian, he wore it on his left wrist.

The accessory seemed too large for his hand, but it quickly shrunk down the diameter of his wrist. The status band clasped itself onto Adrian’s wrist. While wearing it, it had a firm yet comfortable grip that it didn’t seem like he was wearing any accessories.

As he tapped the black rectangular slate on the top of the band, a holographic screen appeared. It looked exactly like an essence core profile, but with additional details just like how their teacher described it to be.

STATUS BAND

Rank N/A/14

NAME:

Adrian Valdanes

CLASS:

Summoner

ELEMENTAL AFFINITY:

Fire

Active Skills:

Passive Skills:

Summon Skills:

Total Skills: 9

Air Slice

[10%] Jump STR. (X)

Hawking

Pwr. Level: 243

D-Coins:

100

High Leap

Featherfall (X)

Octofrogmin

Stealth Increase

[250m] Farsight (Y)

Aizazul

True Blaze

-

Cavern Lion

With everyone consecutively looking at their own status bands, Adrian could see their statuses.

He silently regretted it. His stats paled in comparison with others.

STATUS BAND

Rank N/A/14

NAME:

Flare

CLASS:

Summoner

ELEMENTAL AFFINITY:

Fire, Water, Air

Active Skills:

Passive Skills:

Summon Skills:

Total Skills: 34

˅˅˅

˅˅˅

˅˅˅

Pwr. Level: 1320

D-Coins:

100

STATUS BAND

Rank N/A/14

NAME:

Maki Feister

CLASS:

Summoner

ELEMENTAL AFFINITY:

Earth, Water

Active Skills:

Passive Skills:

Summon Skills:

Total Skills: 21

˅˅˅

˅˅˅

˅˅˅

Pwr. Level: 923

D-Coins:

100

“Paled in comparison” was a phrase too underwhelming to even describe it.

“Look at their number of skills and power level! Have they been training before?!” Adrian only started training a year before the entrance exam for Imperial Elem commenced. It was rigorous, but he only killed four monsters and his power level didn’t even break through the 500 barrier afterward.

After all, it was almost a miracle that he passed the entrance exam.

Power levels are the core capacity of a person. It can reach thousands and even multiple hundred thousand.

For example, the current holder of the rank Emperor, the strongest mage in Da’argard Imperium, has approximately 7 million power level when he graduated seven years ago. No one knows how strong he has become after all that time.

Adrian closed his status band, now left with a lingering thought in his mind. “How will I perform in practical tests if they’re stronger than me? Does that mean I’m the weakest link in this class?”

And as if the timing couldn’t be any worse, their first class for the day was on a subject called “Fundamental Magic Skills.” Kiara finished handing the heavy handbooks as soon as he knew it, and their next teacher entered the room.

“Line up, everyone,” Their first class professor spoke, “Today, I will be assessing your class rankings. These rankings will constitute how you are treated in the school society, so if you end up ranking near last, you’re better off cleaning the dining hall alone just to ensure that everyone won’t treat you like some useless junk.”

The teacher is another Imperium Master named Tek. His hair was spiky black and he was taller than any other teacher. His expression seemed like he was constantly in serious anger and on the verge of annoyance. A thug perhaps, but Adrian didn’t have the urge to even admit it in his mind.

Before everyone got the chance to review the student textbook, their Fundamental Magic Skills Professor led them to an uninhabited forest that was still in Academy territory, by means of a steam-powered carrier vehicle that can transport at least 20 people at once.