The entire room looked at Priya, who was glaring with pure undisguised hatred at the tiny blonde.

“Stakes are all current contribution points.” Wilson continued, stepping into the ring as two of the older yellows helped Kyle to the sides.

To her credit, Priya held her head up as she walked into the ring to what was obviously a completely unfair fight. Wilson radiated confidence, and despite her attempt at bravado, Priya clearly knew she was beaten.

“Wilson is a level two cultivator, one of our fastest risers. She signed up exactly a year ago, in a meeting just like this one. Her friend here however, resisted. She does not wish to serve the guard, she believes it beneath her to protect the citizens of our House. Therefore she never received the type of resources Wilson does, and is still mortal after an entire year within the academy walls.”

If Allen hadn’t wanted to punch the noble before, he would now. The idiot was practically skipping at the thought of the coming fight, and Allen had to bite his lip to stop doing something that he knew would be stupid. Instead he locked his mana down tightly and grit his teeth, resolving to make it up to them later. As before, both fighters bowed to the noble before the fight started, but that was where the similarities ended. There was no effort to draw mana as Priya charged, swinging a punch that her opponent blocked as easily as breathing. She followed up with a raised knee, connecting with the smaller woman’s stomach. Wilson just smirked, still happy to humour her opponent. More punches and kicks followed, with the blonde only interested in blocking any that went near her face. Otherwise she made a show of letting them hit her, demonstrating to those first years that might not already realise how much of an advantage even the lower realms of cultivation gave you over a mortal. Finally she had enough, catching Priya’s attack, and spinning her so the entire class could see her exhausted face.

“Mortals, no matter how they try, will never match up to even the lowest of cultivators. We are chosen, superior. All of you have the potential to be more, you just need to reach out and take it. Our House is offering you the chance to be like gods, and all we ask is you help protect the weaker citizens.” Hood started speaking again, clearly not caring about being a neutral party any more “Olivia, end it.”

The final move was brutal, with barely any effort the much smaller woman pulled back, an audible crack echoing around the room as Priya’s arms broke and she cried out. As if that was not cruel enough, she was shoved forward, smashing onto the floor face first.

“For those that do not wish to be left behind, you have one hour to report to the main dormitory. Bring your luggage, as once you give your oath you will be moved into the green barracks.”

Christopher Hood did not wait after finishing his final speech, simply turning on his heel and marching out the room. With what was actually an impressive amount of coordination, the four green uniformed students fell in and marched out behind him, leaving a room in complete stunned silence. Ignoring the mass panic around him, Allen stepped into the circle and knelt next to a shivering Priya. She wasn’t making a sound, just shaking, her body clearly in shock from the bones breaking. With a thought, Allen opened up his senses again, compassing the entire room, then immediately dropped them. In a room full of people studying to be cultivators, some of which that had been at the academy for four years, there was not a single person with earth mana. In fact there were only four people who had crossed into the novice realm at all, and they all used fire. Allen sighed and dropped to both knees, making sure he was balanced before leaning over the injured girl.

“Sorry but this will hurt”

She didn’t respond, he wasn’t entirely sure she had actually heard him. Still it had polite to at least try. Leaning over he, being very careful not to apply any weight, Allen gently laid a hand on her arm and sent out a tiny amount of his own mana. All cultivators could heal, mana was at its core, life. And life would naturally help speed up natural healing of even a mortal. Certain elements were just, better, at certain aspects of healing. Got an infection, water mana was generally the best for anything blood or organ related, it flowed easily and didn’t react badly with any aspect of the body. Fire mana was great for getting rid of anything that shouldn’t be there, like a tumour or other infection, but it had to be partnered with another healer who could repair the burn damage afterwards. Earth was almost always used for bones, as it would invariably leave the bone stronger and more robust. His own air mana could heal, but it offered nothing to the process. Not unless the person happened to be chocking, but it was rare anyone paid a cultivator healer to deal with a small issue like that. Especially not at the prices they charged. A few seconds after he sent it out, he felt the mana reconnected, having formed a complete loop of the injured woman’s body. Instantly he got a mental image of her injuries, as well as everything else. The bones were shattered, tiny pieces floating off leaving hardly anything left in place except muscle. It was no wonder she was in shock. With careful control, Allen started manipulating pieces back where they needed to go. It was far from perfect, the task a bit too much like a jigsaw puzzle to be completed quickly, but eventually he had had recovered all the tiny shards of bone from her left arm, and forced them back where her humerus was supposed to be. With incredible care he held them in place, then pulsed his mana through the bone itself, layering it time and time again until it was secure enough to stay in place. It was still weak, but was at least a bone, and in the right place. Confident that he had done all he could for the first arm, he shifted his attention to the other one. This was harder, as the extra time had allowed bone fragments to spread further away. Many of them were embedded into muscle or other layers of flesh, which meant he had to be more careful moving them. This was another area where he wished he had access to water mana. Where a healer with water abilities would have simply washed over the tissues and collected bone fragments, he was hateful to be a lot more careful. Using air mana like this was sort of like trying to pick up a football with a crane. Sure you could do it, but there was a lot of trial and error. By the time he finally had all the pieces collected, his dantians were almost entirely drained. With the last of the loose mana he had collected that morning, Allen pulsed it out, fusing the bone a half dozen times before he had nothing left to give. Collapsing back onto his feet, Allen felt his body wobbling. Opening his eyes he clamped his jaw to stop the sudden urge to vomit. Unable to stay upright with his head spinning from mana exhaustion, Allen toppled forward.