The carriage slowly drove far away. It was almost a 9 hour ride to the imperial academy.
The academy was located far away from the people's Residence. The carriage stopped right Infront of the gates of the academy.
" Young master, we have already arrived." The servant escorting him said.
Lionel got out of the carriage and inhaled the refreshing air of the surrounding then let it out.
The servant helped him to carry his luggage as they slowly walked to the gates.
As the reached the gates they automatically opened and a man was standing behind it.
" You must be the young master of the dark fox family." The man said as he saw them.
" Yes, I am." Lionel replied.
" We have been waiting for your arrival." The man said.
" Young master this is where I leave you." The servant said handing him his luggage.
" Have a safe journey back." Lionel wished him as he received the luggage.
The servant bowed then raised, he got on the carriage and took off.
" You can come in." The man said.
" After you." Lionel replied.
The man started walking to the academy and Lionel started following, the gates closing behind them.
" All this are the lectures zone for the basic students. Don't worry the lessons start from tomorrow so you haven't missed anything." The man started showing him around.
" That huge building over there is the beginners' training studio, that's where you'll be practicing martial arts and you'll cultivate your spirit energy."
"That zone there is the academy market, some product essential for cultivation can be sold."
" And there, is where you'll be having your meals."
In every place they walked they met groups of students others practicing swordplay, martial arts, others chatting, others were just walking around but,the academy had very few students.
The man took him to another building, there were other many buildings around it of the same size.
" This will be your room." The man said.
Lionel was surprised alittle, " Will I be sleeping here alone?" He asked him.
" The academy register only 40 students from big families every year, 20 from each gender we only need a few number of rooms and the area is big enough." Said the man to the dumbfounded Lionel.
" I'll be leaving now." The man added.
" Thanks for the tour." Lionel said.
" Your welcome." The man replied and then walked away.
Lionel opened the door and met the perfect scenery of the room and it's fragrance was unexplainable.
Lionel stepped in and looked around. There was a bed with a pillow and blanket on opposite ends of the bed, there was a rosewood study table, a bathtub and other stuffs which made the room self contained.
" It will be better than home." Lionel thought as he put his luggage next to his bed.
By the position of the sun darkness was going to dominate the period in no time.
Lionel removed his clothes and entered in the bathtub for a refreshing bath.
He then got out, dried himself and switched into plain light blue robes.
He then heard a knock from the door and immediately went to answer it.
" Good evening young master, I was asked to bring this set of your school uniform." A servant handed him with a pair of robes.
" Thank you." Lionel thanked him.
Suddenly there was a huge sound of a bell. " Young master, it's time for supper now."
" Oh! Thank you sir. I'll go to pack them."
Lionel went back in and placed the pair of robes on his bed and went to the dining hall which was swarmed with a number of students.
He spotted some pair of eyes staring at him and some murmurs which made him alittle nervous but he stayed strong and went to take his food.
Then, he went to seat on an empty seat alone ignoring the eyes staring at him.
As he was eating silently, a boy of the same age as his came to sit next to him.
" Hi, how's it going?" The boy greeted at once and broke the silence.
" Good, how's you?" Lionel greeted.
" Never better." The boy replied.
" My name's Chris, from the sacred falcon family." The boy introduced himself.
" Mine's_ _ _ _ _." Lionel started.
" I know you, Lionel,the dark fox family." The boy interrupted.
" I didn't know I was this famous." Lionel said surprised.
" Anyway, I'm glad to meet you." Lionel said as he extended his hand.
" Me too." Chris replied and they shook hands.
" I'm looking forward to the lessons tomorrow. It's what I have been longing for." Chris said as they continued having their meal.
" Everything will be fine, there's nothing to worry about. I think it will be very interesting." Lionel replied.
" That's right. I think they'll start by giving us lectures." Chris said
" That's obvious, they can't just instruct us without inflicting us with knowledge by giving us lectures." Lionel said.
Chris nodded as he stuffed his mouth with a piece of beef.
" It's been nice knowing you Chris, we'll meet tomorrow at class. Good night." Lionel wished him as he stood up having finished up eating his meal.
" You too." He wished back.
Lionel walked to his room. He again cooled himself with a cold bath and then switched into sleeping robes, then laid on his bed.
He woke up as the sun started to tear the darkness away. To avoid being late on his first day in class, he quickly took a bath, after he dried himself up, he wore one of the plain white robes.
After having their satisfying breakfast, they all went to their respective halls.
Lionel's hall was already filled with students. Chris waved his hand at him indicating Lionel to come to sit next to him.
Lionel went and sat the seat next to him.
" Oooh, look who's here, the illegitimate son of the dark fox family." A boy who had blonde hair and dark eyes said to gather the class attention.
Lionel looked around the hall which all the pairs of eyes were fixed on him.
" Wow! I didn't know I was this famous." Lionel said replying to the statement of the boy.
" Everyone knows about how you badly lost to your brother on the betrothal challenge." The boy said.
" Oh! That, you know about it." Lionel let out a smile.
" Not only that, but also that you were kicked out of the royal academy having failed to cultivate your spirit energy." The boy added.
" I didn't know you know much about me." Lionel said.
" Yeah, you're a total failure, you don't deserve to be here. It's better you go away or get yourself kicked out with embarrassment." The boy looked serious.
" Seeing that you know much about me, it seems you want me to be your role model." Lionel said provocatively.
" Hey, how can you be our young master's role model. You're a loser." One boy who was somehow more mascular stood up and looked like he wanted to beat him up.
At the same moment Chris also stood up confidently.
" Oh, and who are you?" The boy asked.
"Chris from the sacred falcons family. From your attitude you must be Hector from the ancestral ape family." Chris said.
" I can't offend him he has a powerful background."
" I can't believe that the young master of the sacred falcon family knows my name."
" If anyone dares to offend him by any means he has offended me." Chris threatened.
" Can all of you stop now?" A lady with a medium height, a face which attracted attention of many men with the pink eyes and hair, interrupted.
" Lyla, you're here too I'm impressed." Hector said at the sight of the young lady as he started walking towards her.
The lady raised her hand indicating he should stop where he was. Lionel let out a short laugh.
" Girl, you should do that again. He's too proud of himself." Lionel said then continued smiling.
" How can you order around the all time genius of the young generation like that?" Hector said angrily.
" All time genius?" Lionel asked teasingly.
The whole class was silent as they all stared at the scene which was becoming more and more interesting.
" Maybe you don't know, this is Lyla of the snow lotus family. She was able to cultivate without guidence and she is about to breakthrough the second level of the spirit fighter level." Hector introduced.
" Oh I see. But I thought you were a genius but why do you run after other geniuses. Is it that you are a loser like me and you're seeking for mentoring from them." Lionel said with a smile.
" Young boy don't provoke him, I can't promise to defend you." Lyla said.
" I never asked for your defense miss." Lionel replied.
Lyla's body was trembling from fury. Chris slowly sat down as he too noticed the expression.
" Hurry and apologize before something terrible happens. We can't afford to offend her." Chris whispered low enough for only Lionel to hear.
" Don't worry, I got this." Lionel whispered back.
" You bastard, no one should pity you. You don't know your status yet." Hector said angrily.
" Class attention." A man entered and said.
The spectators were rather angry that the mentor interrupted at the most interesting part.
Lyla gave him a furious glare and inhaled then sighed heavily to calm herself down before proceeding to her seat once again.
" Sorry I'm late." The mentor apologized but in fact he arrived at the right time or else things could have worsened.
" To save time let's begin with today's lesson." The man said as he slowly walked between the rows of desks in the class.
" I think everyone knows about cultivation of spiritual energy. Spiritual energy is the energy which is hidden deep within the soul of every human which can come into use only if one's ready to cultivate the energy." The mentor lectured.
" Cultivation of spiritual energy is ranked into 9 stage each with high difficulty in achieving it." The mentor continued.
"The stages are spirit fighter, spirit warrior, spirit awakening, spirit master, spirit grandmaster, spirit sage, ancestral spirit, titan spirit and deity spirit each containing 5 levels."
" The first three stages takes 9 months to 1 year for a genius to master each stage will take you 3 month to 4 months and they are called basic cultivation stages."
" The second 3 stages takes 2 years and 6 months to 3 years for a genius to master fully each stage will take you 9 months to 1 year and they are called expert cultivation stages."
" The last three stages depend on one's foundation there's no exact period for mastering."
" The last stage, there's no one alive who has achieved it." The mentor finished.
One girl's hand shot high in the air her face was full of curiosity.
" Sir, which stage have you achieved in cultivation?" The girl asked.
" I'm an ancestral spirit of the fourth level." The mentor replied.
Immediately, Hector's hand was raised too but his face wasn't curious at all.
" Sir, what happens if one fails to cultivate his spirit energy?" Hector asked glancing at Lionel.
" He or she can base in learning martial arts. That's the only way he can get stronger. Spirit energy is the only difference between cultivators and normal martial artists. Mind you, there some martial artists who can beat ancestral spirits like me." The mentor explained.
" Oh, okay." Hector replied directly glaring at Lionel who smiled at him.
" Okay the lecture will continue tomorrow so, class's over." The mentor said and got out of the class.
" Let's go." Lionel told Chris.
Both of them stood up at once, as soon as they started walking, Hector stopped Lionel who didn't resist.
" Lesson's not over yet, you should apologize to Lyla. I won't let you leave." Hector said as Lyla stood from her seat and approached them.
Lionel looked at her then asked, " What did I do wrong?"
" You insulted her." Hector replied.
" How?" Lionel asked.
The class remained silent again all listening attentively to them.
" Ok guys, we're sorry." Chris interrupted.
" You're apology doesn't count, I want him on his knees, and apologize." Lyla said.
" Lionel just do it, it's the safe way out." Chris begged.
" Although they are powerful they can't bully us if and only if, we show them no fear. I'm not ready to be bullied." Lionel said to him.
" If you just show them a sign of bravery they'll never bully you." Lionel added as he put on a serious attitude.
" OUT OF MY WAY!" He bellowed and pushed Hector aside which made both him and Lyla surprised.
Then he confidently walked for the door turning his head to face Lyla, he winked then got away.
Everyone now started walking away. Chris ran faster to catch up with Lionel.
" Your school life will become difficult this way." Chris said.
" No. It became more interesting." Lionel said with a smile _ _ _ _ _