"Did you hear, there's a freshman who's from a Giant Food Monster bloodline."
"You must be joking, I've never heard of anyone with a Giant Food Monster bloodline."
"It's true, I heard the Notebook Teacher Huston said it himself. I heard that freshman was really amazing. Yesterday teacher Huston deliberately made trouble for him during class and gave him a few thousand chicken legs to eat, but it turns out that freshmen really ate them all. Teacher Huston lost a lot of face, now even teacher Huston doesn't dare casually make trouble for him..."
…
Moss walked with incomparable gloominess on the road toward the Beast Training Field. He had the urge to spit out blood every time he heard a discussion like this by the wayside.
In just a day's time, the matter about Huston losing his poise and becoming hysterical after Ayrin ate an entire dining car's worth of chicken had already spread out abuzz across every corner of Holy Dawn Academy, but the more it spread around the more outrageous this thing became. Now the hundreds of chicken legs had already become several thousands of chicken legs by word of mouth.
The Giant Food Monster was only a low-level monster inside the southern forests, with a particularly great appetite. It was definitely impossible for any bloodline inheritance or bloodline power to come from it, but because Ayrin drove Huston half-nuts, and made him say a "Don't tell me you're a Giant Food Monster," now there were many people in the academy who spread the word Ayrin came from a Giant Food Monster bloodline.
There was no telling how it was going to end up like if it kept being spread on and on.
The most critical thing was, he had absolutely nothing to do with Ayrin, or that Impulsive Freshman Belo that became excited at the drop of a hat, but Huston unfortunately thought he was in the same clique as them and deliberately acted the comedians in class. He just had no idea what kind of logic really went inside Huston's head. But what he could be sure of was, for a sinister man like him who had the nickname of the Notebook Teacher, the more he heard people talk about how he lost such an amount of face in class, the more twisted his retaliation would be in class.
There was no class at all today originally. The reason he went to the Beast Training Field was that he heard today was the third years' "Monster Battling Exam." Like the vast majority of academies, Holy Dawn Academy caught and raised some vicious monsters and rare animals. Starting from the third year, some students in the arcane battlemaster branch had to train with these monsters and beasts.
This kind of training was necessary, because a great many monsters and beasts existed in the forests, barren lands, and above all the inaccessible fringe areas of every kingdom. The arcane masters carrying their missions in these areas could encounter and do battle with these beasts and monsters at any time.
Fighting with beasts and monsters inside the academy could foster the students' courage for battle. Of course, the "Monster Battling Exam" was a very important exam for the students in the battlemaster section. Students who put on too bad of a show and couldn't pass this exam would be phased out to other branches. In the future, they would probably never have the opportunity to become a figure like those braves from the legends.
Junior students were allowed to watch the "Monster Battling Exam." In fact, junior students were allowed to watch many senior student exams, so that they could accumulate some experience in advance. Among those, there were some exams that the junior students would never see in ordinary times. Especially an important exam like the "Monster Battling Exam" which was really new and exciting for freshmen who'd never seen monsters and rare beasts before. That was why, over time, it'd become a sort of festival inside Holy Dawn Academy. Holy Dawn students even labeled it the "Festival of Beasts and Monsters."
Rumor was, they used a monster called "Ximos" this time for the third year battlemasters' exam. This monster was a monster newly discovered in the border region between Eiche and the Winter kingdom. Not mentioning new students like them, there were probably only a handful of arcane masters in the entirety of St. Lauren City to have seen what this monster really looked like.
Moss' dream was to become the kind of powerful arcane master who could go anywhere, a brave whose fame resounded through the entire continent. He was usually filled with curiosity for every kind of monster, but his mood was becoming more and more frustrated hearing the discussions on the way, to the point he was almost losing interest in the "Monster Battling Exam."
"Classmate, may I ask you how to go to the Ironbox residence area?"
Just as Moss was hanging his head in dejection and thinking of his future miseries, a voice suddenly came to his ears.
"Hm?"
Moss subconsciously lifted his head. Five people were coming his way from the opposite direction.
None of the five worer the blue school uniform of Holy Dawn Academy. They were all looking left and peeking right, observing as they walked along. The one who'd asked the question was a boy with long golden hair tied in a ponytail behind his head. He looked about the same age as Moss and was very handsome. A captivating smile hung on his face.
Extremely intense, inexplicable pressure and fear suddenly flooded Moss' body the moment his eyes met the eyes of this handsome golden-haired boy.
Moss' body stiffened all of a sudden. Layer upon layer of cold sweat emerged on his back despite himself. Even breathing became very difficult.
It was as if the one standing in front of him wasn't a boy, but a monster who could easily tear him to pieces!
"Where does such a feeling comes from?"
"What's the matter!"
Moss' hands and feet had become freezing cold in the space of a moment. Even his body would probably be shaking uncontrollably if not for him doing his utmost to keep it under reins.
"Classmate, do you know how to go to the "Ironbox district" or not?"
The golden-haired boy asked once again when Moss didn't answer.
Moss lifted a finger with great difficulty, pointed in a direction, said, "Just go straight in that direction."
"Thank you then." That golden-haired boy smiled toward Moss. He walked past Moss with the other fours, not saying anything else, going toward the direction Moss pointed to.
Moss recovered from his stiffness only long time after the five walked past him. He panted in big mouthfuls, turned around, watched the backs of these five with disbelief, cold sweat soaking his entire body.
"Which school do they actually come from?!"
"Who the hell was that guy?"
These five persons didn't wear Holy Dawn Academy's clothes. They didn't know where the "Ironbox district" was either. On top of that, the academy's "Ironbox residence district" housed guests and students from other schools to begin with. Added to their ages, Moss was certain these five came from another Academy.
Among the five, the pressure he'd gotten from the golden-haired boy who'd questioned him was too great, to the point he couldn't breathe; even his heartbeat almost halted. So he didn't pay any attention at all to what the other four looked like.
Such pressure... It could only mean that this person's strength surpassed his own by too great a margin.
This person was definitely not only successful in compacting "primordial arcane particles," becoming an arcane master in the true sense. He was also, certainly, a very powerful existence even among arcane masters. It was even possible he'd learned some formidable secret skills.
Where did such a terrifying student suddenly come out from?
Five persons! The Hegemonical Cup of the Starry Skies School Braves!
"Could these five be the team from Southern Monsoon Academy?!"
This idea suddenly flashed inside Moss's brain. His body became even more ice-cold. He also trembled, uncontrollably.
The match between Holy Dawn Academy and Southern Monsoon Academy was tomorrow already. Holy Dawn Academy could only have the right to participate in the main qualifiers if they beat Southern Monsoon Academy. Southern Monsoon Academy was merely a second-rate academy without much fame, situated in the southern part of St. Lauren. It didn't have any remarkable accomplishment before either, otherwise, it wouldn't need to participate in a preliminary qualifier with Holy Dawn Academy.
Moss clearly knew the senior students of Holy Dawn Academy were definitely much stronger than himself, especially those who could become members of the academy's team. Some of them were even strong enough to knock down ordinary teachers. But Moss also met already with the "Amazing Girl" Chris.
He hadn't sensed such fear and pressure even when faced with Chris.
Looking at these five figures gradually disappearing from his sight, Moss was drenched in cold sweat. The only thought he had was that there was no way team Holy Dawn could vanquish such a team.
…
"Holy Dawn Academy has a very good environment, and it's also bigger than our academy."
The five persons who'd made Moss scared into cold sweat were leisurely walking on a small path covered with cobbles, on their way toward the "Ironbox district" at the rear side of Holy Dawn Academy. The golden-haired took out a lip balm and smeared it on his mouth, looking very bored. "It's just, we haven't even met a single guy who's a little strong and interesting, it's really too meaningless."
"Stingham, don't look down too much on Holy Dawn Academy," one of the other four said beside him. It was a boy with a tall and sturdy body, eyebrows abnormally thick, and hair faintly red. "The likes of Amazing Girl Chris or Gerrin are still very strong."
The golden-haired boy tidied his hair and said with a captivating smile, "Strong? That's compared to ordinary people like you, captain Hansen. For a genius like me, it's simply nothing, haha."
The tall thick-browed boy and the three others seemed to be long used to the golden-haired boy's way of talking. They merely gave him a glare when they heard and muttered, "Can't you show a little modesty?"
They couldn't help having a face full of black lines however when they heard the golden-haired boy's following words.
"These beautiful academy girls will definitely scream for me after they see my performance, they'll thoroughly fall in love with me."
They all itched to toss him into the gutters on the roadside.