Douluo Continent
Shrek City
Shrek Academy
Morning. Grade 1 Lecture theater.
The lecturer, a male teacher, said indifferently, "I believe you've all heard what was said at the opening ceremony, so I won't be repeating any of that. Here at Shrek Academy, your teachers will show you the door, but it is up to you to step through it. Your success here depends on your own efforts. Well, that's enough about that. Today you will be familiarizing yourselves with how things are done here. I will explain the rules and education style in a moment."
The lecturer swept his gaze across all the students.
"On behalf of Shrek Academy, I welcome you. Everything I'm about to say concerns your future studies, so take note. It's important that new students like you know these things, and I will not repeat myself."
"All of you are now members of Shrek Academy. Whatever you do in the outside world represents Shrek Academy. If you overstep your bounds, the Academy will punish you. Punishment will be completely unrelated to whatever the Federation decides."
His voice grew somber as the last few words left his mouth.
Shrek Academy, and by extension, Shrek City, was a powerful independent organization in the Douluo Continent. Laws and punishments were determined solely at Shrek's discretion. The Federation had no jurisdiction over it.
"Each one of you has a student identification card with your information and contribution points stored in it. I'm sure you're all curious about what you can use contribution points for. Simply put, they can be used for anything in the outer court. You can exchange them for cultivation resources, spirit souls, time in special facilities on campus, personal guidance from a teacher, and entrance to the spirit ascension platform. Working students, in particular, need them to buy food. Within reason, you can exchange them for anything and everything you want.
"You're all probably curious as to how you can obtain more points. Let me get this out of the way first: you cannot purchase contribution points with money legally. You have to complete jobs for the Academy in order to earn contribution points. There is a large variety of jobs for you to choose from. For example, you have physical labor, metal forging, mecha design, mecha making, mecha maintenance, and so on. As long as you are able to complete the job, you will be awarded contribution points. They can also be transferred between students. Private transactions will not receive the Academy's protection, but you can choose to make such transactions through the Academy's public platform at a small cost. The points will be valid as long as Shrek Academy still stands, and what you spend them on is up to you. Of course, if you're expelled, you will be given an opportunity to spend all your points before being forced to leave.
"Classes are only held in the morning. You are free to do whatever you want in the afternoon and evening. You can study on campus in any way you wish or even go out into the city. Anything is fine as long as you do not miss your morning classes. Apart from special circumstances and the approval of a teacher, tardiness will not be excused. Instances in which you are late to class will be considered absences. Anyone who is absent three times will face expulsion.
"Continuing on, you are not allowed to bring anything bought with Federation money onto campus. Anyone who is caught doing so will be fined contribution points ten times the price of the items. You can try your luck in smuggling things in, but I wouldn't suggest it. Some places on campus do accept Federation money, but as I'm sure those of you who have been there already know, they are very expensive."
"Those of you who are working students will have it harder. You will have to pay for your own meals. No one will stop you from going off-campus to eat, but I advise that you consider how much time would be wasted if you did. Time is the most important thing for students here. If you fall behind, you risk being expelled.
"There's one thing you should know that we didn't mention earlier. In Shrek Academy's elimination system, anyone in the bottom five of the yearly minor exams will be expelled. Shrek Academy only raises monsters. You could spend your time here in a leisurely manner, but then your stay would only last a year.
"A list of optional courses will be passed around later. Some of those classes are free to normal students while others require payment. Working students, however, will have to pay for any optional classes they choose to take. All students will need to exchange contribution points for the resources used in these classes.
"That is all you need to know for now, so we will stop here for today. You can go familiarize yourselves with the campus or perhaps try doing some jobs to earn points. Oh, right, be careful of point deductions. If any of you reach negative one thousand points, you will be expelled."
The curriculum seemed easy, and classes only took place in the morning, yet the elimination and contribution point systems pushed students to strive for the best. Anyone who didn't spend their afternoons and evenings improving themselves risked falling behind. They also had to find time to do jobs and earn contribution points. In truth, they had a packed schedule.
"Alright," he said. "I've finished explaining the important stuff. Let's move on to the topic of this morning's class."
"Today's first topic is battle armor masters." His words immediately caught everyone's attention. "What is a battle armor master? What does it mean to become one?"
Every single soul master dreamed of becoming a battle armor master. Regardless of where they came from, each and every student here was a genius at their previous academy, and it was obvious where their goals lay.
"I'm sure, some of you are confused as to why the first class is about battle armor masters," he continued. "Well, that's because you already learned the basics before you came here. If you hadn't, you wouldn't have passed the entrance exam. In light of that, we won't be covering them here. For the next five, ten, fifteen, or maybe even twenty years, your goal is to become a battle armor master."
Here was one who didn't and still passed the exams. Fan Lin who was just 10 years old in age and had to do things at the speed of light, didn't even properly get the chance to learn more about the basics of Battle Armor and yet he was here.
Most of his Battle Armor knowledge was of three word Battle Armor and its needs which he crammed with the craftsman who made his three word Battle Armor piece.
He didn't know a dime about one and two word Battle Armor and since the teacher was explaining it, he was really thankful of him.
'Although I am getting the Deja vu that I may have read this in the novel but now I have forgotten about it.'
"As all of you heard from Elder Long's speech during the opening ceremony, you will only be able to stay in the outer court until thirty-five years of age. If you fail to become a one-word battle armor master before you turn thirty-five, you will be sent home without graduating. If you do manage it, however, you will be able to graduate from the outer court. This is the standard for all of Shrek Academy's students. Let me tell you all right now—only thirty-three percent of outer court students graduate. In other words, a third of all outer court students have what it takes to become a battle armor master."
'Shrek has become weaker huh. There were more than a hundred inner courtyard students who were above level 80 before the age of 25 during the Yuhao Era. While even the lowest of outer court students were able to become Soul kings before twenty years old. Or is it something that I don't know about this period. Need to gain information about the education level as soon as possible'.
"If you've already laid down a sturdy foundation for your secondary professions before coming here, then congratulations. It will be easier for you to progress from here on out. However, if you haven't, you better put more effort into improving in your profession."
"Anyone capable of becoming a one-word battle armor master at twenty-five years old or younger will be eligible to join the inner court. If you don't pass the inner court exam, then you will just graduate as an outer court student and leave. Unlike what you all may think, you don't have that much time here."
He paused, letting his words hang in the air for just a moment.
"Now let's move on to the topic of battle armor masters. Just what is a battle armor master?" he asked. "I'm confident that most of you will say they're just more powerful mecha pilots, yes?"
A wave of subconscious nods spread throughout the class.
"Then you are all gravely mistaken."
"Battle armor masters are completely different from mecha pilots," the Lecturer firmly stated.
"A mecha pilot puts clothes on their person, but a battle armor master puts clothes on their martial soul because at their core, they are still soul masters. This is the fundamental difference between the two. Let me emphasize this. One-word battle armor masters are simply the beginning. Only at two words, when you're one with your armor and it becomes an extension of your body and martial soul, are you truly considered a battle armor master."
"It is for this reason that you must fuse your battle armor with your martial soul first. They must resonate with each other, attract each other until they become whole."
"There are four levels of battle armor: one-word, two-word, three-word, and four-word battle armor."
"Four levels may not seem like much, but the gap between each one is immeasurably deep. If you want to become a battle armor master, you must pick a secondary profession relating to building the armor. At the moment, the most efficient professions are mecha maker and mecha designer. Mecha makers carve circuits into their battle armor, easing the fusion of battle armor and martial soul."
"Designers create battle armor that perfectly complements their martial soul as you know yourself better than anyone. I suggest you all choose one of these two. Of course, you're all free to choose to become a blacksmith or a mecha mechanic instead."
"Blacksmithing is both demanding and strenuous, and forging armor is much more difficult. However, it is the most appropriate profession for creating powerful battle armors."
"Not one person can reach the peak of all four professions, so choose wisely. Don't forget that you also need others to help you finish creating your armor, so consider how to best earn contribution points in order to commission them. If their work is good, I suggest befriending them and helping each other out. Personal relationships is a part of one's strength too."
"The strength your battle armor can exert depends on your compatibility with it. Perfect unity can boost your power by twenty soul ranks."
"The requirement to become a one-word battle armor master is five soul rings and the third rank in your second profession. Not only that, the metal must be thousand refined, the design drafted by a grandmaster designer, and the armor assembled by a grandmaster maker. Its compatibility rate must be at least sixty percent, and at least nine pieces of armor are needed for it to be considered battle armor."
The lecturer stopped to let the students digest all the information that he said.
The whole class was talking among each other before becoming silent as the lecturer started to speak without waiting for them.
It was as if he was a machine that will stop on its own. The lecture ended after an hour but another one started the next minute.
Morning classes didn't have breaks in between, just one lecture after another.
A fact that the grade 1 students learned by the end.
....
After the classes ended, Fan Lin and the students left the Lecture theater and went to their separate paths.
Fan Lin checked the various institutions in the Shrek Academy and found three places that he liked.
The hostess bar, the boundless training area and direct entry to the Spirit Ascension plane as a student of Shrek(Elementary Spirit Ascension plane only)
The boundless training area because it actually provided him a custom made training area that would increase the cultivation speed of his Martial Soul.
The hostess bar because it was the only place that would exchange more than 1 billion Federation coins into contribution points at a rate of 100 federal credits for 1 contribution points. Something he needed for everything in the Shrek Academy.
Lastly the guaranteed entry to the Elementary Spirit Ascension plane every month was a chance he didn't want to miss.
Night-time.
Fan Lin came in front of a building in a forest west of Spirit Ice Plaza.
"This is the dormitory for working students,"
The building only had one floor and was extremely run-down. It sat in the middle of the forest, but it was now clear that this was done to hide the building and save face for the academy.
It was a truly unsettling place.
There seemed to be about twenty or so rooms in the mottled building. Some of the rooms didn't even have windows. They had long since broken, the wood around them completely rotten.
It was about thirty square meters in area. Although it wasn't small, there were only two metal-frames of bunk beds in the room. Other than that, it was completely bare.
A thick layer of dust covered the floor and two of the windows were broken. A single string dangled from the light bulb in the ceiling. Considering the state of the room, determining whether that bulb was a useless ornament or a functional light source was a coin toss.
No basic necessities were provided, not even a mattress.
Fan Lin took the sight of the room he was given and sighed. He knew that working students wouldn't have it as good as normal students, but he was still shocked at the conditions of the dormitory because his orphanage was better was this.
The only source of clean water was a single faucet meant for the entire dormitory. It didn't even provide any hot water. The working students had to go to the school building to get hot water and bath.
Aside from that… well, they didn't have anything else. There were no other facilities at the dormitory for working students. The dining hall could be found in the main school building, so they had to cross the enormous plaza each visit.
Fan Lin looked at the dusty room and chose to sat down on the ground.
"Let's start cultivation."
As for cleaning his dorm, with his Energy Body, his body was always clean, be it inside or outside, who cared about the rest when there was no point to it. It's not like he was going to invite others into his room.
"Plus leaving it like this is more beneficial for me since no one would even think someone lives here."
Fan Lin thought while while the dorms and furthering deep in the small forest. He finally stopped at a small clearing and found a place to sit down and enter deep meditation.
The next day.
Grade 1 lecture theater.
Morning.
"Today we will be electing the class representatives." The lecturer spoke to the class. The students looked at him silently.
"Here at Shrek, strength reigns supreme. We have already tested your characters, so we don't care who becomes a class representative. A class battle will be held, and the final victor will be the class president. Those who demonstrate exceptional talent will fill in the other positions. There are seven representatives in total. One class president, two vice-presidents, and a council made up of the four secondary professions."
"Don't look down on the position of class representative. Each representative will be in charge of different parts of the class and receive bonus contribution points. The president and vice-presidents are the leaders and represent the whole class. Each month the class president will receive one thousand contribution points, the vice-president six hundred, and the members of the profession council will each receive five hundred points. As long as a representative can become a battle armor master by twenty-five years of age, they will automatically be admitted into the inner court upon graduation. Also, they may take the graduation exam at any time they wish. Remember, you must graduate from the inner court by the time you turn thirty-five. Don't even dare to proclaim yourself a member of Shrek otherwise. Anyway, these seven positions will be filled in today."
"A competition will be held for the other positions. The contest for the president and vice-president seat will start in a moment. We're going to a practice field where you can fight to your heart's content."
"There's only one requirement to become the class president: survive until the very end. The two runner-ups will be the vice-presidents. Let me remind you, it's not a fight to the death. As long as your four limbs or your torso touches the ground, you will be eliminated."
"Of course, if you wish to withdraw from the position, that's fine too. There are many perks to being the class president, but the responsibilities are just as heavy. If there's one benefit that makes it worth it though, it would be the extra credit you receive when you take the inner court entrance exam in the future, and the greater influence on campus. As I'm sure you all know, the highest authority in Shrek City and Shrek Academy is the Sea God's Pavilion. Nearly all the elders of the Sea God's Pavilion were past class presidents or vice-presidents. The Academy has six grades and only six classes, so there are only six class presidents in total. Every one of them has a higher chance of making it into the inner court."
'That doesn't seem like a persuasive withdrawal speech.' [Lin]
"Alright, you have fifteen minutes to prepare. Naturally, you can also form groups, it's up to you. We will only observe the battles."
His words ignited a fire in the eyes of fellow classmates.
The lecture theater soon grew rowdy as people turned towards the person sitting next to them in search of comrades.
With only three positions available, the teams remained small. If the team was too big, there would be conflicts over who received the positions!
Though strangers at first, the classmates soon became friendly.
There wasn't anyone who didn't want to stand above their peers This was especially true at Shrek Academy. But in order to climb to the top, they had to fight.
"I withdraw."
A voice came tearing down the murmurings and discussions of the students.
All the students looked at the owner of the voice with weird eyes.
Fan Lin didn't pay any attention to them and repeated his words to the lecturer.
The Lecturer glanced at him for a moment before noting his name onto something.
The Lecturer then nodded at Fan Lin and patiently waited for the fifteen minutes to pass.
"Tch."
When Fan Lin got the approval of the Lecturer, he heard the 'tch' from somewhere behind him. He looked behind but found no one in particular.
All the students were looking at him, so it was really hard to pinpoint whom tch'ed him. He wasn't interested in that person at that.
He calmly returned to his seat and picked up some books to browse through.
Fifteen minutes soon passed. The Lecturer began to take the class somewhere.
"Do I have to... as well?"
Fan Lin said to the Lecturer. He nodded. Fan Lin also followed the students out of the classroom.
One hour later.
Fan Lin was standing blankly outside in the Spirit Ice Plaza.
The competition had ended ten minutes ago and the Lecturer ended the day. The students were free.
As for why he was standing blankly.
He just saw the grade 1 students fight and he now came to a realisation that with his second soul skill, he can one-shot the whole grade 1 with ease. Even if they all attacked together at once.
The excitement of joining Shrek was dwindling now, at a rapid rate at that.
"Well I came here for the actual records of history anyways. Let's find and read those."
"I still need to decide the future of my new world."
He went to the library.
A week later.
Fan Lin left the boundless training area and went towards the forest near his working students dormitory to cultivate. His cultivation progress in the forest was faster.
This has been his night routine for the past week.
He attended his classes in the morning, the rest of the afternoon was spent in the Boundless training area, at night he came to train in the backside of the forest near his dormitory.
With his upgraded first spirit soul ability Energy Body, his cultivation speed had skyrocketed and coupling it with Boundless training area made him reach Rank 30 in a week.
He planned to level up the next day at the Spirit Pagoda and was doing cultivation as a habit.
"It's going to add up."
A week has passed of his school life in Shrek and it wasn't that impactful for him.
It was all learning new knowledge to reach the knowledge that he knew already, although the new knowledge was quite detailed.
"But it's necessary."
Adding to the fact that the school was going to be destroyed one day.
"I am being pessimistic again."
Hence Fan Lin had been cultivating day and night to take his mind of some things.
He could sleep as well but he didn't want to. He didn't want to form a dependency on sleeping to escape from his everyday worries.
"I miss the past life where I never needed to think about all this. I never needed to think anything twice or had dilemmas that I couldn't solve."
"Although most of the dilemmas ended with someone's death."
"The past me would have done something. What would the past me have done now?"
"Something that would be selfless. The past me wouldn't take any selfish actions for something that could potentially harm the others."
[Lie.]
"Things change quite easily, don't they?"
"That past has become a memory. Just that."
"I wonder what is the next news?"