"Ah! I'm so glad thats over!".
The heavy scent of sweat spread throughout the third year Class 3 locker room as many of the teenage boys plopped down on the floor the moment they entered.
Running and doing exercises to help stimulate the life essence within their bodies was a tedious and natural way of trying to awaken the Life Power within their bodies, however, it was the least likely to occur in most circumstances.
One of the boys, a rather plump looking young man, practically rolled on the floor, trying to find some semblance of coolness from the metal floor beneath him. His weight made it even harder for him to run the dozens of laps that the fat teacher set, and he was in the last place of the pack for most of the run.
He looked up at Alleluia who had come out of the shower with nothing but a towel around his waist and gave a fake embarrassed laugh.
"This is the boys locker room! What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like-".
The sound of a foot colliding against the metal floor and a large fatty rolling out of the way caused most of the other boys to turn their heads and stare at the hateful look that their Sis gave the fatty. The fatty was covering his chest and giving a demure and embarrassed expression, as if he was a pure and innocent maiden trying to protect her chastity.
He gave another cheeky smile,
"Guys! You didn't tell me it was my birthday! I would've shaved if I got to have my first time with such a pretty girl!"
Alleluia sighed a breath of sadness as the laughter echoed throughout the locker room. He opened his own locker and proceeded to change back into his school uniform, a rather general looking outfit comprising of just a short sleeved white shirt with long black pants. A tie was crudely hung around the collar of his neck.
He turned and looked at the rest of his class and gave them a wave as he left the smelly room and breathed a breath of fresh air the moment he exited the door.
Since this physical education class was at the end of the day, most of the other students had already gone home, with a few stragglers left behind either studying or mucking around with their clubs.
The third year Class 3 had to stay after school for a while in order to clean up the grounds and themselves after sweating so much. No-one, even that fatty Rota wanted to go home smelling like sweat. Even they had standards after all.
The fourteen year old student walked through the hallways of the huge all-male school, before coming to a large looking storage room with the words, "History Department", hanging above the door.
Alleluia knocked twice before entering.
".... Hey.... old man?... Are you in here?".
The room was filled to the brim with a wide variety of books. Their was a distinct lack of shelves despite the huge number of books with a single old man sitting in the center of these books, at the only desk in the room. The man looked thoroughly entranced with the book he was reading, and his narrowed eyes only emphasized the wrinkle line on his forehead.
His hair was messily sticking out in every direction imaginable and the huge beard on his face made him look more like a homeless man than a history teacher.
Alleluia snatched the book out of his hands causing the old man to snap out of his trance. He frowned for a moment, before looking up at the fourteen year old and smiling as if realizing something.
"Alleluia! I'm so glad your here!", the old man scurried to his feet and grabbed another book just beside him, "I found this book on the ancient methods of the Bodian Empire from 15,000 years ago! It speaks of their Knights being able to utilize their Life Power to influence the world around them! Some could turn their Life Power into flames, and others lightning! Imagine if the Knights of today could do that! So, I'll need your help with the next experiment. I know the risks and I promise to compensate you accordingly....".
The old man spoke words faster than a machine gun spitting out bullets. Alleluia was almost lost in the countless complicated theories the old man spouted, but raised his hands and shook his head.
"Professor, I thought you said last time that you were researching the techniques from the Sacred Dynasty. And before that the legends of Immortal Knights from the Qin Shi Huang Sect? Using too many different techniques can lead to deviation in the body. The life essence may become cluttered and unable to flow due to the crossing of power in the body".
The words may have seemed basic, but if Knight heard these words they would've looked at Alleluia in a different light.
The practical aspects of cultivation were in of themselves quite simple. Stimulate the body through exercise or external forces like medicines and potions and the life essence would awaken and become Life Power.
The theoretical aspects, as in the most efficient way for one to stimulate this life essence, as well as how to guide the process into it becoming Life Power was difficult. In the roughly 100,000 years since this cultivation system has been established, their have been countless schools of thought in regards to becoming a Knight. As well as the stages after becoming a transcendent!....
A normal fourteen year old wouldn't even be able to comprehend the crisscrossing of powers that flowed throughout the body. How one stimulated their life essence affected both their body and Life Power once they awakened. How to manipulate Life Power and life essence. And how to predict how the body will change once exposed to Life Power.
It was a very complicated process becoming a Knight. Even if it could be done by an idiot.
The old man calmed down and let out a deep sigh as he rubbed his eyes. It seemed as though the Professor hadn't got much sleep in the past few days.
"Ah.... you're right, you're right. The Life Power in the body isn't something that one can create half-halfheartedly. If the Life Power is awakened in a way that the body can't withstand then a risk of self-implosion is much higher. The technique must match the body, as it makes it easier to guide the life essence into Life Power when using a technique that your body is used to, instead of one that isn't".
Alleluia looked down at the sitting Professor, whose huge beard covered the majority of his lower face. The older man's thick eyebrows and scruffy looking hair made him look as though he was a savage who knew nothing about civilization or civility.
Who would think that the most esteemed teacher at 3rd Lake Rail Academy would be such an unattractive fellow....
The pretty boy shrugged his shoulders and patted his teacher on the back sympathetically. It was the Professors dream to become a Knight, yet the old man didn't have the potential to become a transcendent.
He never stopped studying the techniques that mortals use in order to ascend to Knighthood, as well as the myriad of techniques only available to those who have reached it. The Professor dove into the study of life essence and Life Power, as well as Life Techniques, the combat skills which utilize Life Power as fuel.
In Lake Rail City, if the Professor dare to claim that he was the second highest authority on Knights, no-one would dare claim first place!
He was a respected individual, despite his quirky personality.
The old man nodded knowingly, "The technique I showed you was an incomplete one however its power was undisputed amongst all the techniques I've found and comprehended over the years. The stimulation of life essence through physical strain is the most stable and easiest way to become a Knight. If one has the talent, they should awaken in their early twenties. If one doesn't have the talent, unfortunately their life essence would've become stagnant and unable to awaken into Life Power.....".
Alleluia nodded in turn.
"The records from the Ancient Zhou Dynasty date back to roughly 97,000 years ago, just after the Calamity occurred. Mankind felt a resounding shift in the world, and civilizations were destroyed in an instant. Little to no records can be found of life before the Calamity. All we currently know is that my life essence technique, the [Vigorous Thunder, Flowing Water] was a high-grade technique from that era. The steps to become a Knight were left behind, but the steps after becoming a Knight were destroyed.....".
The fourteen year old felt a little saddened by the thought of his life technique being incomplete. Unlike many of his friends, only he had the talent to become a Knight. Everyone else could barely feel the life essence within them being stimulated by physical exercise but Alleluia was able to feel it even without undergoing training!
In layman's terms, he was a genius!
All his friends knew he had the capability to become a Knight, but all of them believed that he only felt the bottleneck loosening after being trained by their fat physical education teacher. That his Knight stimulation techniques had a profound affect on his cultivation speed!
This is why the Professor chose me, he thought....
Any other student who could become a Knight through some measly stimulation techniques wouldn't even be a fart in this old man's eyes. But Alleluia, some fourteen year old from some backwater third-rate city could!
The old man stroked his beard several times before shaking his head with a knowing smile.
"The [Vigorous Thunder, Flowing Water] was a technique based of a legendary beast from the Calamity. It was said that this mythical creature could walk on water and fly through the sky like thunder. Some doubt its very existence, but the fact remains that this technique exists! Through it, the Life Power you awaken would become as fast as thunder and as free-flowing as water. You still have to be careful though, some parts of the text are incomplete, and the reoccurring references to red liquid still puzzle me.....".
Alleluia smiled and nodded at his teacher.
"I'll be sure not to push myself too hard when practicing this technique Professor! If I have any problems that I can't solve on my own I'll come straight to you!".
The teacher and student pair spoke for a while before the younger of the two bowed and left his teacher to go back home. It was getting dark, and even someone like Alleluia had jobs to complete and chores to handle.
The pitch black obsidian irises of the fourteen year old were as beautiful as the night sky....