Author`s note:

Apologies for the delay in releasing the chapter, I was busy planning and taking notes to work out the remaining chapters of this arc - I estimate 9-10 more chapters for the end of this arc, but might be more if I slow down the pace of the story.

Enjoy chapter 27. (Ps. When I post chapter from MS Word, the paragraphs will lose the spacing. The only way to fix this is by quick editing the chapter after it was posted. So please be patient until I am done xD)

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Chapter 27 - Registration

Two old men were currently resting on a bench, under the shade of a large tree, in the Emerald Park of the Royal Academy.

“Ahhh…,” one of the men, who was completely bald, groaned. “This back pain; I can’t stand it anymore!”

“Ehhhh… my friend,” the other man sighed, “our natural enemies have always been time and old age.” He then lowered his head downwards and depressively uttered, “My wish when I was young, was to complete all 12 ranks of the soul and become an immortal, but I have long given up on that dream of mine!”

The bald man sympathised with his friend. They were both in the same boat, so they understood each other’s feelings pretty well.

“What do you think about this year’s students so far?” The bald man asked.

“Hmm… I would say same quality as previous years. From the brief inspection I made, most of the accepted students are only ranked 2nd, but there are a few of them who reached the 3rd rank of the soul already.”

“However, we do have a monster, and I have an ill feeling about him,” the other man ended his speech in concern.

“We have a monster?” The bald man curiously probed.

“Would you believe me, if I had to tell you that a 17 year old has already reached the 5th rank of the soul?”

“A…a… a 17th year old at the 5th rank?!!!” The bald man yelled in surprise.

“You wouldn’t be that surprised once you learned of his background though. His name is Zak Lafran and he is Victor’s grandson.”

“Victor’s grandson???!!” The bald man queried in surprise. “Unbelievable! Why would the Lafran clan enlist him to our academy?!”

The other man remained thoughtful, then said, “According to the rumours I’ve heard, he apparently threatened to kill the other prodigies of the Lafran clan, which would have ultimately resulted in a big loss for the clan. In the end, the clan was forced to send him to a different academy than the rest of them.”

The bald man instantly clenched his teeth in anger. “Oh! So it is fine to accept him here then?! What if he kills our students instead?! This is simply preposterous!”

“I agree, this whole affair reeks my old friend. I truly hope that the Rector upholds his promise and makes him skip directly to the military year.”

It was then when the bald man, noticed something that made him even madder. “Those unpleasant brats! How many times do I have to warn them that races with jet boosters aren’t allowed over our academy?!”

The other man turned around to look, then laughed. “Hah! Let them enjoy themselves my old friend, they are still young and full of energy. I somehow regret not doing that stuff when I was younger!”

“Ooy! This is the Royal Academy, not a leisure park!” The bald man rebuked. “Don’t sympathise with those brats!”

“Discipline! Reprimands! That’s what they truly need!”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Emerald Park, a jet booster descended and landed gracefully on the ground. The driver grinned triumphantly, then cracked his knuckles, in an attempt to relax his now numb fingers.

“And the insuperable Laydon does it again!” He then raised his head to explore the sky, “Still no sign of those idiots. Suckers, did they really thought they could beat me?”

Laydon then turned to face Kane and yelled, “We have arrived Kane!”

However, when he saw Kane’s current expression, he comically frowned, “Hey, why that face?! It is normal for someone to feel slightly dizzy after the first ride!”

In the meantime, the yellowish Kane was desperately trying to remove the belts, and his eyes were visibly craving the firm land.

“Well, irrespective if you have enjoyed the ride or not, we have arrived safely at our destination! The registration centre is south of here, in that direction. Around twenty minutes of walking, or maybe thirty; surely not more than thirty!” Laydon said whilst pointing the direction with his hand.

Kane finally descended the jet booster and his expression immediately changed into one of relief, then stuttered, “It was much faster… than I was anticipating… actually way too fast...”

Laydon laughed out, “Haha. If you ever need me for another ride in the future, I’ll be around in the academy, of course provided my academic application is successful.”

“Let’s hope that both of us will be accepted as students! Good luck with your registration!”

“Thanks, but I doubt I will be riding another jet booster again in the future,” Kane responded assertively, still dizzy.

“Never say never in life Kane!” Laydon shouted whilst he turned on his jet booster. He then extended a two finger salute towards Kane, departing away shortly afterwards.

Kane instantly walked towards the nearest bench to rest himself, something which his lethargic body badly needed. He peacefully closed his eyes, and inwardly complained, “Where is Master’s ability when it is really needed the most? If he came with me, I wouldn’t have had to struggle this much to arrive at the academy! Why he had to suffer from that stupid allergic condition?!”

He napped for a whole hour, and when his rest was over, he restarted his journey and headed towards the Registration Centre. He hurried his pace, and didn’t take him that long to arrive before a massive open air tent. There he saw a queue of large number of youngsters, forming a long straight line. The queueing passage was surrounded by rope barriers on each side, supported by metallic poles.

“Hello young warrior! Are you here for the registration?!” A cheerful young lady asked.

“Yes Madam,” Kane gently replied.

She then showed the way with her hand, “Follow the others behind that queue. Best of luck young and handsome warrior!”

Kane nodded thankfully, whilst his cheeks turned slightly red.

He patiently waited, at the same time worried by the massive amount of people in the queue. However, much to his surprise, he realised that the overall pace of the registration process was a very quick one, and at this rate it wouldn’t take him more than an hour before his turn arrived.

As he slowly advanced forward, he spent his time silently observing the adjoining areas. He couldn’t help but notice the anxious family members and Masters of the hopeful prospective candidates. Kane’s mood slowly plummeted, and he felt a sharp emotional pain, because amongst that large mass of people, there was nobody there to support him. He rubbed his watery eyes as he took another step forward.

After a while waiting, he could finally see the end of the queue.

A lonely half bald middle-aged man was seated behind a rectangular table. He was the registrar, the one in charge of the applications. Next to his table there was a weird large machine glowing with several green power crystals, whilst behind him sitting and chatting on a table, there were three middle-aged men and one young woman, all of them dressed in an elegant academic uniform.

Candidates were appearing before his table, then he examined their applications, and shortly after he would announce his ruling. Kane realised that those who took the left route, were accepted candidates, while those who exited from the right route, were rejects.

“I have counted 50 candidates so far, and they have all exited from the right side… which means they have all been rejected!” Kane thought to himself, as he took out his amulet of recommendation. He felt at ease, because with that amulet in his possession, he had nothing to fear.

Step by step Kane approached the table, and there was now one only one person in front of him.

“Next!” The powerful voice of the registrar shouted.

The young man before Kane quickly took out his certificates and presented them to registrar.

“Henry Fork, 1st rank of the soul, apprentice of Warlord Maximus…,” The registrar uttered as he inspected the certificates. “Twelve times 1st placed in the regional exams of the junior academy of Planet Patela… not bad… not bad…”

Henry’s eyes shone with hope, but it was short lived.

“Application rejected!” The powerful unemotional voice of the registrar vibrated out. “Next one!”

Henry frowned, as he quickly grabbed back his certificates and made way for Kane.

Kane felt anxious whilst he moved towards the registrar. From this close, Kane could notice that the registrar had no beard. However, his white moustache was so long that it seemed like he actually had a beard.

Kane was about to give him the amulet, but the registrar totally ignored him.

“Next one!”

Kane remained there staring stupefied like an idiot. He felt dumbfounded, completely undecided on what he should do next. Then, out of hesitation, he said, “I have an amulet…”

Before he could finish the sentence, the unemotional robotic voice of the registrar responded back, “Piss…Off…”

The registrar then turned his gaze towards the young woman behind Kane. “Hey! Haven’t you heard me?! I’ve said next one!”

The girl behind Kane felt confused, but when she heard the registrar calling for a second time, she made quick effort to sneak past Kane, as she prepared to present her certificates to the registrar.

Kane was left speechless and humiliated, “Hey! I have an amulet of recommendation! You can’t…”

Then, like a thunder strike that just descended from the heavens, the registrar voice rocked the entire tent, “Are you deaf?!! I’ve told you to piss off!!!”

His terrifying voice silenced everyone, and the students next to Kane shook in fear. The ones at the back appeared perplexed, as they curiously stood up on their tiptoes and raised their heads to try and see what exactly is going on.

“Hey! What’s happening over there?” One of the three men behind the registrar stood up and started walking towards Kane. He was a man of high class, something that was easily evident by the way he moved his elegant body. He first glanced towards the registrar, and thereafter he fixed his gaze on Kane.

“Hello junior. I am the Dean of the Faculty of Languages, William Hathaway. I regret to inform you that your current level of strength isn’t sufficient for you to join our academy.”

“Please train harder, and once you reach the 2nd of the rank of the soul, come back and apply again. As long as you are younger than 23 years, you will be accepted in the upcoming years,” William informed.

“Stop wasting your breath William, as if a weakling like him can ever reach the 2nd rank!” The registrar impatiently mocked. “He isn’t any better than a cripple!”

Kane was now very nervous. He unconsciously knew that the eyes of many people were now locked on him. All this affair was turning a tad humiliating for him.

“But Sir, I have this amulet of recommendation by my Master. Have a look,” Kane said as he extended his hand.

“Bwahahaha! A student using the privilege of an amulet of recommendation to join our academy?! Completely unprecedented, shockingly shameful!” The registrar burst out in anger, then continued mocking, “And who is this Great Master of yours? By any chance, is he the Supreme Kanklar himself? Bwahahah…”

When the surrounding people heard the hilarious attitude of the registrar, they couldn’t help but snicker at Kane, with the snickering slowly evolving into clear sounds of unrestrained laughter.

William frowned as he grabbed Kane’s amulet. However, at that very moment, an unexpected powerful earthquake rattled the area, amidst the screams and panics of everyone present. Fortunately, the earthquake was short lived, and there were no signs of any structural damage.

William immediately elevated himself a few metres above the ground, inspecting and making sure that everyone was fine. He seemed a little concerned whilst he thought, “What`s going on, earthquakes shouldn’t be happening on this moon…”

After scanning the entire area, he reassuringly shouted, “Keep calm please, it’s over! Luckily it doesn’t seem like there are any casualties. The registrations shall hence proceed as planned.”

He then descended down, inspecting the amulet that Kane had just given him. William was a very calm person, and it was very rarely for him to lose his composure, especially when he was in the public. However, when he read the words ‘Marcus Verde’ written on the amulet, there wasn’t a part of his body that wasn’t shaking.

“This young man is Marcus’ Disciple?!! Since when he has a disciple?!!” William thought totally startled. “I can’t comprehend, why would he take such a frail guy under his wing?”

Upon seeing William’s surprised expression, everybody fell dead silent, including the registrar. On the other hand, a faint trace of hope appeared on Kane’s face.

Droplets of sweat appeared on William’s worried face, “What is Marcus thinking? Didn’t he anger Pietro enough already?? Once he learns that Marcus recommended a weakling in our academy, Pietro is going to be extremely infuriated!”

He desperately thought of a solution, but he quickly gave up, “Marcus is one of the Emissaries of the Supreme Kanklar, we aren’t in a position to reject his recommendation! We have to bow our heads and accept this disciple of his!”

William then let out a sigh, “junior, there is a high chance that the Eastern Sectorial Patriarch will summon you once he learns who your Master is. Are you really sure that you want to register into this academy?!”

Kane, who was completely oblivious of Pietro’s relationship with Marcus, responded in delight, “That would be amazing! The main reason I wanted to register myself here was specifically to meet the Lord Patriarch!”

William opened his eyes wide in disbelief and thought, “His actually looking forward at the prospect of meeting with the Patriarch? Doesn’t this confirm that his an accomplice with Marcus in this whole affair?!!! Isn’t he afraid of Pietro? Doesn’t he have any idea on how terrifying the Eastern Sectorial Patriarch can be??!!”

The puzzled William remained staring at Kane for a while, then he recovered his cool, thereafter walking slowly towards the registrar. William then gracefully gave the amulet to him, like a parent dropping a candy in the hands of a child, then he coolly walked away, whilst uttering, “Note his credentials, he's in!”

The Registrar’s eyes bulged out, whilst he turned to look at the amulet. When he learned the name of Kane’s Master, his eyes protruded even further out, and they now seemed like they would drop from his face any second.

Everyone else was shocked by this sudden turn of events! The candidate that everybody thought that was out, actually made it in!

Kane was now in seventh heaven, as he faced the now dumbfounded and humiliated registrar with a wide funny payback smile, full of mockery.