Ethan pressed his lips together. Then, gradually, his clothes started to rip from his back. The sound of his clothes ripping made the crack move again.
And now it is about to shatter.
Ethan stomped the ice and leaped into the air. Immediately after he did that, the icy surface rumbled, as if it was an earthquake, before it collapsed deep into the water.
At the same time, in midair, Ethan sprouted his wings, and he flew hastily to the closest mountain in his sight.
"This technology is freaking me out," Ethan said to himself as he stood on the snowy mountain.
He walked to the edge of the mountain and gazed down.
"What?"
The previous icy surface Ethan was standing on now looked like a sea with large ice cubes floating on it.
"Even though it's a VR, it still freaks me out," Ethan grumbled to himself as he stared out at the ice sea.
After some time, Ethan started exploring the snow-covered mountain.
Thankfully, there was no ice in there. However, the snow still hindered his movement, but for the sake of his training, he continued forward.
Naturally, he would have just flown with his wings, but, unfortunately, Rowena suggested he walk as it would be helpful to him.
After walking for some time, he finally found a spot where there was less snow; the spot had a rocky spot with snow covering some parts of it.
Immediately, Ethan got to the spot, the space distorted, and Rowena's holographic figure appeared.
"You asked me to work, right? Why didn't you do the same? it would have been beneficial for you as well," Ethan said in a cold tone.
If it was up to him alone, he would just fly and get here, and now, seeing that the one who suggested it just appeared like that, made him a little annoyed.
" Have you forgotten? This is not my real body, so if I walked as you did, it wouldn't be tiresome, hence I wouldn't feel anything," Rowena said, and he added, "Now let's get this underway.
For the next few hours, Rowena continued his assault on Ethan, and during this period, Ethan learned some creative things to do with his flames, but nonetheless, the training was fruitful.
The next day, the noisy alarm resounded in all the dorm rooms.
Today was said to be a theoretical class, and almost, if not all, the students had bored expressions on their faces.
Firstly, they feared the ridiculous hours they would waste sitting down and listening to a boring lecture, and that was not the most boring part of the entire lesson, as it was written on their rota that they would be learning about beats and their crystal.
The students found these specific lectures to be boring because they already knew quite a lot about the beasts, as the information about them was rampant. However, the academy made it one of their most compulsory classes.
Ethan, Ileus, and Noah navigated through the packed hallway; the large hallway was crowded because of the number of students roaming around.
The hallway was this crowded because the academy allowed students to attend any class they wanted, as it was still the same lectures, but there was still a set limit for a particular classroom.
The trio finally walked into the classroom; Ethan stopped mid-way when he noticed kai boulder.
The latter sat in the front seat, and the red-haired girl sat beside him, sticking to him as if he was a magnet.
Immediately, Ethan entered the hall. Kai stood up, but he stopped and stared at the middle-aged man standing at the front with a large holographic screen behind him.
Seeing his sudden behavior, a creepy smile crept to Ethan's lips, and he waved at Kai before walking past him.
This behavior wasn't unnoticed by Noah and Ileus, but they didn't say anything.
Kai violently tapped on the wooden desk, and his other hand shook violently, but he calmed down when he felt a smooth famine hand on his shoulder.
"Kai, darling, don't think about him too much; he is just an ant, and by the way, you will trash him in two days," the red-haired girl said while glaring at Ethan.
"Don't worry, Heina. I would make him pay for his arrogance; I might as well make him vanish from existence, "Kai smirked.
The classroom was mostly made of wooden materials; the desks were arranged in three rows, each with several seats and desks. The atmosphere gave off an academic feel. Everything inside the classroom wasn't that advanced, except for the large holographic display at the back of a middle-aged man with bald hair and glasses.
Unlike the military personnel, who had defined muscles, the middle man, however, was skinned, and he gave off the feeling of a tutor rather than a soldier.
When the man noticed that everyone had settled down, he straightened his glasses and said, "Hello, everyone. My name is Professor Xavier.
After his introduction, all the students got up and saluted.
"Good morning, Professor Xavier!"
Seeing the way they acted, Professor Xavier nodded his head and said, "as expected of a military school." He gestured for them to seat themselves, and when they were seated, he said, "Today's lesson would be about the beast and its crystal."
Professor Xavier made a swipe on the holographic screen, and it flickered and showed a new screen on which a diagram of a beast and its crystal appeared.
"I know most of you already know a lot about these beasts, but since the academy insisted that you must learn it, I will do just that. The beasts, as you already know, are found on different planets, which are called the "beast planets."
"Many years ago, when Adam Gate discovered the first beast planet, it opened the way for other explorers as well. Then, with time, many other beast planets started popping out of nowhere."
The screen flicked again, and this time, it showed different odd-shaped planets floating endlessly in space.
Ethan squinted his eyes, listening attentively to what was being said. Although he was taught about the beast and its crystal back in the Draconian empire, he still wanted to hear the human version.
The professor continued, "The first beast was said to be the strongest and rarest, but the latter ones were way weaker compared to the first."
"And one more thing: not all beast crystals have abilities. In fact, the chances of you finding a beast crystal with an ability would be 1 in 100 because almost all the beasts with abilities have been killed and converted to the abilities we are using today."
"And the fact that they were relatively smaller than the normal beast crystal, which can be used for weapons, made it easy for them to go extinct."
After several boring hours,
"Alright, class. This would be the end of today," the professor said and left the hall. Kai stood up and glared at Ethan before walking out of the classroom, and, of course, Heina ran behind him.
**
After reaching the hallway, in which their dorm room was located, Noah said, "Ethan, we heard about your due-"
"Hey, stop there," a deep voice suddenly said behind them.
Hearing the voice, Ethan, Ileus, and Noah turned back, and they were greeted with the sight of six muscular teens.
"Is there a problem?" Ethan raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, there is," the boy who seemed to be their leader answered. The leader started cracking his knuckles and hands before he said,
"Guys, fuck this fuckers up."
***