[For those of you have read to this point already, I made a mistake. I planned this novel's changes to include the MC being 16, not 13. Accidentally forgot to change this. From now on, Dyon is 16 years old and 1.9 meters tall.]
Dyon's feet dragged across the floor as he weaved through the bustling pillar.
As far as he knew, there were six sub pillars and a center one. Each of the six sub pillars were named after the pillar families and Dyon was just lucky enough to be assigned a dorm in the Patia-Neva Pillar.
'Hopefully this means I can avoid too much trouble for the time being.'
Aside from this moment of temporary relief, something else confused Dyon. There were just too many students, 'Are their families really this large? If they're all really part of the pillar families, this is going to be harder than I thought.'
Dyon finally made it to the other half of the pillar after descending to the bottom floor. The large space narrowed into a hallway that led into a lounging area. A pond identical to the one in the library graced the center, allowing a few students to meditate around it on the available platforms.
Looking at the water, it didn't seem to be water at all. Dyon hadn't paid much attention to it before, but the pond gave off an ethereal feel. The substance inside it ebbed and flowed, but seemed to have no real mass. It was almost like a gas sometimes, and other times like a liquid. But, its most defining characteristic was its golden color.
'What an interesting pond. It would have to be artificial for it to be here, but it seems so real,' Dyon thought in a trance.
He walked slowly to the edge and stretched out his hand to dip it in –
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?"
Dyon snapped out of his trance to see a tall red-headed girl with her hands on her curved hips. The influx of tight leather cleared up his cloudy vision instantly.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed? You clearly have no cultivation and you clearly see no one else around you touching the energy currents, but you think a first year like you can? You must be trying really hard to implode from the inside out.
"You should already know about the dangers of the ponds, it's the first thing they teach you at orientation and it should be something you would have learned even before coming here. In fact, why aren't you wearing your student issued robes? What about your emblem? Faction affiliation? Do you even go here?"
Dyon didn't seem to be listening, his eyes kept scanning over the voluptuous woman in front of him. Dyon had never been one with any real tact, coupled with his immaturity he stood no chance against the girl in front of him. That wasn't even considering that fact she was wearing tight leather short shorts and a crop top.
"I sure am glad I came to this academy," Dyon said while finally looking up from his daze, ignoring the fact this girl was nagging him despite clearly not wearing a uniform herself.
"Pft, you're so weak yet you have time to think of frivolous things. Remove me from your thoughts, you think I'd want a man who I could beat without lifting a single finger?"
Snickers filled the lounge as a group of 3 male students wearing yellow robes reminiscent of traditional Chinese chang pao.
"Do you need us to handle this weakling, Ava?
Ava looked over in disgust. "Clearly not."
Dyon seemed unbothered by what was going on as he continued to smile, "Beat me without lifting a finger? Maybe so. But, what if I beat you? Would that be enough for you to take me as your man?"
Ava turned to Dyon and raised an eyebrow.
Dyon continued as if not sensing the 3 boys staring daggers at the side of his face. "Probably not, right? Although I know nothing much about this school, I'm fairly certain that you aren't the strongest. If being stronger than you was all it took, wouldn't you already have a man? So why not overlook my weakness and have a chat with me?"
Even the hostility of the 3 boys was stifled as silence reigned the lounge.
Whispers came soon after. "First he tried to kill himself with the pond and now he's messing with Ava. Does this kid have a death wish?"
"He's new, he clearly doesn't know what's going on."
"What an idiot, I hope you enjoyed your barely over a decade old life. With Ava's temper, she really might kill you personally."
"Not the strongest? Maybe. But that's only because of her age. Obviously she meant being stronger than her while being of her grade. Who does he think he is?"
Finally, the leader of the 3 boys couldn't hold back anymore and charged forward.
"This is Ava Sicarius, she ranks amongst the top 1 of last year's juniors, and you dare flirt with her? Who are you? What is your family name? Who gave you such courage?"
Dyon flicked his wrists. A metal skateboard without wheels appeared, allowing him to hop onto it. He shot into the air, just out of reach.
Ava's eyes glowed with curiosity. 'Although he's weak, he sure has some interesting things on him. He may be quite smart too, Darius wouldn't dare jump at him while he's hovering over the pond. If he missed, that would mean his death. I guess he isn't just a handsome face.'
"Come down here and fight like a man." Darius boomed in anger.
The truth was that he was a little flustered. He had never seen the device Dyon had pulled out.
It was impossible for cultivators to fly until they reached the legendary Essence Gatherer realm… But there wasn't even a single such expert in the whole of this academy! The only exception were beast tamers who happened to tame winged creatures, but due to the danger of such a thing, only high ranking Beast Masters would dare to risk taking a beast into the air for fear of dying.
"No thank you, you seem a bit angry and I'm weak, remember? But if miss Ava wanted to come up with me, I wouldn't mind." Dyon said with a smile.
A devilish smile appeared on Ava's face as a wrapped whip appeared in her hand, "I would love to come up with you, why don't you come down a bit?"
'She doesn't look too happy,' Dyon thought with a shudder.
"I don't usually make it a point to disappoint beauties, but I'll have to make an exception today. I'll see you around little Ava."
A look of disdain appeared on Ava's face. "Who're you calling little Ava."
Unfurling her whip with an elegant flick, she shot a beam of energy directly at Dyon's receding back, but, before it could reach him, it sent ripples across a translucent energy shield.
'That whip… something seems off…' Thought Dyon.
"You're right in being agitated when I call you little Ava," Dyon smirked lewdly, involuntarily stealing a glance at Ava's chest. It seemed it could pop the seams of her leather crop-top at any moment. "Big Ava is definitely more apropos," Dyon shouted as he entered another hallway, riding quickly towards his room.
Torrents of red flooded Ava's chest, as she heaved breaths in anger. "I'll teach him a lesson soon enough."
A cold wind made Dyon shiver as he flew away. 'That was too close, luckily the protection I built into this board is able to stop the energy they use, or else I'd be screwed.'
This hover board was one of Dyon's personal inventions. The energy shield was actually meant to stop debris and air from affecting him when he flew at high speeds, but today it saved him from injury.
'That aside, it seems like there are other families in this school. But, most importantly, it seems like I missed orientation, so I have no clue what's going on. Dammit Libro, you should have said something. Maybe the fact a pond with no warning labels could kill me would have been a nice tip to give…'
After weaving around aimlessly for a while and ensuring that no one followed him to his room, Dyon finally came to a stop along a row of metal doors. After finding the one appropriately labeled for himself, he flashed his card along a panel before entering.
A sea of blue assaulted his senses as he once again found himself looking at large panels of glass facing the Focus Lake. The room was decently sized at about 20 square meters. There was a bed, a meditation platform, a closet built into a side while, as well as an empty bookcase.
Dyon was happy to find white robes lying on his bed. They looked exactly like the robes those 3 boys from earlier had on aside from the color. Maybe he had cursed Libro a little too soon.
Dyon pulled out a small metal disk and threw it at his door, 'That should protect me for the time being. Even if they find my room they shouldn't be able to get in. This'll allow me to practice and sleep in peace.'
Dyon threw his robes into the closet while walking towards the one door he had yet to explore. Inside, he found a bathroom which he was quite content with. After a shower, he sat down to think about the past events. What intrigued him the most was the pond.
'It's odd, even in all of the basic books I've read, there was nothing about an energy filled pond. And even if there was, why would it be dangerous to touch? I assume it might be because of an influx of energy my body wouldn't be able to handle…'
The truth of the matter wasn't far from what Dyon thought. You could consider the energy in the pond as electricity, except in this case, the best conductor was the human body and not metal. If Dyon had touched the pond without sufficient cultivation to handle the influx of energy, he would have imploded similar to a piece of metal heating up due to too much current.
Dyon shivered when he thought of this. 'Seems like I came quite close to dying today. I need to be more careful in the future. I'll also need to thank her properly.'
Setting aside his curiosity towards the pond and its origins, Dyon slipped on some comfortable grey sweatpants and a new white shirt. Soon, he had hopped into bed and fallen into a deep sleep.