"Larne,"
"Chard!"
"Larne, is that you, oh fuck!, I thought you were died, it been like eight months."
-How is the old miser doing now?. And what is happening in school?. Why am i seeing new faces around the Academy?.
"Well, it is because of you-
"Me!"
"Yes you, let me show you something."
Unsure of what was going on, Larne followed his friend, as he wondered, "See Instructor Locke Is here." What he saw, overwhelmed, Larne couldn't help but be jaw-slacked, "Chard, what is going on here?." The plaza crowded with people, he saw a long queue that he couldn't even see the end.
"Instructor Landon is here"
"Where? Which one of them is he?
"Are you blind? Can't you see the more handsome man?
"That one is Instructor Larne..."
"____"
Not really knowing what was going on, Larne glanced towards his friend who in turn turned his face away, face darkening, Larne not knowing what was going on was startled to see a muscular man in a leather armor running towards him while brandishing his battle axe , the muscular man roared while raising his battle axe high, "Aha, Landon I'm here to request a duel with you"
His battle axe emitted the purple aura of a rank two grandmaster which signified according to the customs of the Elysium continent showed he had the ability to spar with Larne even though he was a rank lower.
Different CoreEnergy ranks were easily distinguished. Creamy-white CoreEnergy for beginners gave one a slightly buffed look and greatly increased one's strength, agility and endurance when it circulated through one's body. White CoreEnergy for Amateur mainly focused on the protection of the body. For example, it can be used to fortify the hands, causing them to radiate a faint glow and have tough skins, greatly increasing their defensive capabilities multiple times more than that of an average person's.
Silver CoreEnergy for Experts excelled at the attacking aspect. Silver Expert can project their CoreEnergy onto their weapons and make them emit various forms of sword glows, with the length of the glow indicating the rank of the said Expert.
As for Master Swordsmen, they can gather their CoreEnergy to execute ranged attacks and had deep blue CoreEnergy. Beyond that was the level of Grandmasters, who could project their CoreEnergy and use it to lift themselves of the ground.
Sword Lords, however, were more like dangerous, they could project their CoreEnergy into anything and use anything as weapons.
Larne looked at that man holding the raised battle axe with a look of admiration. That guy must have quite a few gold coins to spare for him to dare to brandish his axe like this in the academy, he thought.
"Stop!" A loud cry rang out as a troop of black uniformed swordsmen marched towards the plaza.
Sword glows pointed at his throat, lower torso and chest, the brutish man stood still without moving an inch. The scary part was that two of the sword glows that were pointed at him were much longer than his own. The owners of those swords were definitely rank one and two grandmasters.
The few other men who came with the brutish man hurriedly attempted to hide their weapons.
"You, you, you, and you, the one wearing an armor, yes you! And that other one in the cream clothes! And that one wearing the leather hat! You guys are really brave… For you to even dare to unsheathe your weapons in the academy! Bring them to the Enforcement Department!" A fat man appeared before the men and shouted loudly.
Those who were named by the fat man attempted to escape.
"You dare to run from me!? You guys, apprehend them and double their fines!" said the fatty with a cruel expression.
"Yes sir!" said the black robed men as they made the chase.
If the students of the academy were asked to name one most wretched people in the academy, that person would definitely be that fat man who was also the head of the Enforcement Department. His name was Pella and was called by many as the "The gluttonous fox".
As the head of the Enforcement Department of the academy, Pella never scolded or physically punished the transgressing students. Instead, he gave them a very huge fine. If the students couldn't pay up, the department has got just the solution for them. The Enforcement Department provides loans for the fined students. And to make sure they repaid their loans, the department also found jobs for them and made them work until their debts and interests were paid up in full.
Once, there were two students who broke the rules and did not have the money to pay the fine. The fatty merely smiled and said, "Don't worry about the money. As long as you can work, it'll be fine."
Without delay, they were sent to the mines for two whole months. It was also rumored that they almost got sodomized there. After the two month term, the fatty called for someone to go bring them back. A tear-jerking scene soon unfolded: the two students knelt and desperately hugged the ones who were sent to pick them up, refusing to let go.
After the black robed men apprehended the ones who tried to escape, the fatty walked towards the one who brandished the battle axe leisurely. He motioned for him to drop his battle axe, which the man soon did with much haste.
"Have you come to the academy to rob and kill?" asked the fatty with a "courteous", wanting tone.
The muscular man replied with a flustered look, "Umm, no-nope. I came here after seeing the notice issued by the academy."
"Notice? What kind of notice allowed you to come terrorize our students? I don't ever recall seeing anything like that," said the fatty with an expression of intense curiosity.
"What?" the man let out a startled cry. "It's that duel notice that you guys put up! It says that any grandmaster rank contestant who can defeat instructor Larne gets to take his place as an instructor and will be rewarded a hundred gold coins! That's the reason I came…"
"Oh, it's that notice. That's right, the academy did put up something like this. But, are you sure you checked it out properly?"
"Of course I did! The words on that notice were larger than my fists! How could I have missed anything?" roared the muscular man loudly.
"Well, then. Tell me the fine print on the notice! It was never stated that you could come in randomly and just brandish your battle axe out in public!" shouted the fatty, whose expression had suddenly turned dark, glaring at the burly man.
That man winked and coughed out, "I was just worried that someone would beat me to Larne! and I didn't see no fine print!"
"It was stated very clearly on the notice. Didn't you say that you had read it carefully?"
"You mean those words that were smaller than my fingernails? That was the fine print? Who reads those? I only read the words at the top…" The man's voice grew softer and softer. He looked like he just realized his grave error.
"Did you think the academy would just let anyone barge in like that with a sword in hand? Of course there were terms and conditions! We at the Orca Academy are the elites of the Elysium Continent. Everything we do has to follow strict protocol. It is stated that any Grandmaster ranked individual who wished to challenge Larne was to report to the Enforcement Department. You see that white stone building over there? That's the Enforcement Department! You must go there and apply for a duel and pay a registration fee of ten gold kans. After that, we will notify you the time and place for the duel within two or three days. If you don't show up at that time, it will be considered your loss by default and we will not return your registration fee.
"You won't profit if you don't invest. It might cost you ten gold kans, but think about it: your opponent Larne is but a grandmaster swordsman with somewhat better swordsmanship. If you had won, not only would you get a hundred gold kans, you will also be employed by the academy as a purple-ranked instructor! A purple-ranked instructor's salary is ten gold kans a month. You can easily buy a house in this city and settle down here with that kind of money."
Pella talked like a patient salesman with the brawny man nodding to every one of the points Pella made.
"It's such a shame…" said Pella with his expression turning glum as his tone changed. "You actually ruined such a good chance by not reading the notice carefully and committed such an act at our academy. Not only have you broken the rules of our academy, you have also greatly insulted the academy and caused deep mental anguish in our students! That's why, you must be punished before you will be allowed to register for a duel."
"Punishment? What kind of punishment?" asked the brawny man, scared.
"Oh, don't worry. According to our academy's rules, we will not cause you any physical harm. We only ask you to pay a small fine. This matter will be settled if you hand over five gold kans," said Pella with a pleasant smile on his face.
"What! Five gold coins?" The brawny man could never imagine having to lose five gold coins just for drawing his blade. "I… I don't have that kind of money…"
"That's perfectly okay. You can borrow it from some friends. If you can't do even that, the Enforcement Department can find you some work which will guarantee the repayment of your debt." The fatty got a little impatient after hearing the man's reply. He waved for the men in black to bring the transgressing men back to the Enforcement Department.
By the time this ended, only half the people who were at the plaza remained.
Larne turned to look at Pella with a grim expression.
"Glutton! What are you up to this time!?"
The fatty replied with a face full of smiles, "Haha, isn't this brother Larne? It's so nice to see you again! I've missed you so very much."