Time passed.
All the instructors are in awe as they looked at the three kids sitting in front of the ancestral walls.
They are all anxious, excited, and hopeful at the same time. By midnight, the competition was over. As if they were stuck by something, all three leading figures opened their eyes at the same time.
The aqua-haired boy looked at the stone wall and then at his own arms. He examined his own body. Anyone could see how happy he was. He is excited.
Jiva also had a similar expression and the excitement turned into determination as he clenched his fists.
Meanwhile, Viswa had a blank expression.
He looked at the stone wall and then at the ground as he lost himself in thoughts.
He is in a state of enlightenment and confusion.
He felt lost.
At this moment, the Headmaster came in front of them and announced.
"The admission test has finally ended. Even though it is not a competition, we still rank people based on the distance they covered.
As for the inheritance of legacies, you are the only one who knew how much you have comprehended and gained from it.
So, if I were you, I would keep the information to myself and wouldn't reveal it to anyone except the instructors.
Tonight, all the failed participants will go home. Those who have passed can go to the temporary dormitories.
All the instructors have already seen your performance. So tomorrow there will be an instructor accepting ceremony. You can choose and apply for the instructor you like. And instructors can ask you to be their student.
Even if you are not accepted by any instructor, you can still listen in on open classes of all the instructors. It might be tough, but you can still cultivate.
Throughout your time in the academy, instructors can accept students at any time. So, don't feel down if you are rejected.
For now, go and rest. See you all tomorrow afternoon. The rest of the rules will be explained there.
Welcome to Black Sand Academy.
With that, the Headmaster left the temple without turning back.
The instructors also left one by one. Viswa looked around and finally spotted Sir Warden who was about to leave. He ran after him with an anxious expression.
"Sir Warden."
Sir Warden looked at Viswa and smiled slightly.
"Good job with the test. You must be tired and you need to rest. We can talk tomorrow."
"I am sorry, but it is an emergency. It is related to my Sl… Brand."
Viswa said in a low voice as he touched the back of his neck. Sir Warden frowned and nodded before both of them went into a corner.
Aqua-haired boy and Jiva looked at both of them from afar. They had different expressions on their faces as they followed the rest of the students out of the temple.
"What happened?"
Sir Warden asked with a solemn expression.
"My burning stopped."
Sir Warden took a sharp breath of air and asked.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it is fluctuating when I was training, because I was constantly moving around. But at the entrance of the forest right before the test, it completely disappeared.
In the middle of the test, it increased a bit, but it was not as severe as when I stayed in the orphanage. It's very faint.
And after I reached the temple, it once again went down completely."
"What state is in it now?"
"It is gone."
Sir Warden immediately looked around. There are a lot of people. The new students, some senior students who are guiding them, and the instructors.
"What kind of demon placed that brand on you?"
Sir Warden asked and Viswa thought for a moment before saying.
"He is a noble that has the status of Count. He is a Sea Demon. He handed me over to his son who has a Baron title from birth. He is also a Pure-blooded Sea Demon by birth."
Sir Warden nodded and said.
"Now is not the time to look into this. I need to test something before. But if what you said is true, then we need to take immediate action. I will contact you in your dorms, before dawn. Be careful. Don't mention it to anyone else."
"Yes, Sir."
Viswa nodded and followed the rest of the students away.
But as soon as he took a step forward, a notification popped up in front of him.
[YOU HAVE CHANGED THE DESTINY OF BLACK SAND ACADEMY BY BRINGING WARDEN'S ATTENTION TO AN ANOMALY. OBTAINED 10 POSITIVE KARMA]
[CURRENT POSITIVE KARMA +106
THE RECOVERY RATE INCREASED BY 106%. SPIRITUAL ENERGY ABSORPTION RATE INCREASED BY 10.6%]
[ACHIEVEMENTS UNLOCKED. CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST ACHIEVEMENT]
[ACHIEVEMENT: GET A TOTAL OF 100 POSITIVE KARMA
REWARD: TICKET OF EXPERIENCE*1]
Viswa was stunned. He didn't expect such a notification at all.
In fact, he thought that the slave brand issue was mostly his and that it would only affect him. But from the looks of it, there is a much bigger play happening.
He shook his head and went with the rest of the students.
They were led to the back of the mountain from where there is a path to the academy campus. There is a dormitory building. Each room has two beds. Viswa was paired with a random guy who seemed to be a lackey of one of the noble kids.
As soon as he dropped the luggage, he immediately left to look for his master.
So, Viswa had room for himself.
"Mr. Guide."
He muttered as he sat cross-legged with the night breeze cooly hitting his face from the window.
The suit-wearing snob appeared and looked at Viswa with a grin.
[Not bad, you are not completely useless after all. Now did you understand why I made you dig that tunnel?]
Viswa smiled and said.
"Yes, Mr. Guide. I am shocked and in awe because of your wisdom and foresight."
Mr.Guide, placed his hands in his pockets as he raised his head. He spoke with an arrogant tone.
[Of course, who do you think I am? If not for the fact, I owed a favor, an idiot like you wouldn't have a chance to interact with me. Anyway, you have one redeeming quality. To see my greatness. There might be a saving grace for you.]
Viswa was dumbfounded. He shook his head and spoke about the issue with his Slave brand. But Mr. Guide couldn't care less.
[Don't bother me with those trivial things. Find a way to handle it yourself. Put those useless brain cells to some work. Anyway, that Warden or whatever his name is more than enough to handle the situation.
If things go completely wrong, then we can talk about it. Anyway, I want to talk about your inheritance and your future training.]
Viswa turned serious and sat straight.
[As you must have understood already. The stone wall is indeed left behind by one of the pioneers of the current human civilization on this planet. It is a great technique to develop a solid foundation that you need for your future growth.]
"But Mr. Guide. I didn't have any energy circulation method with that technique. Everyone else had it and even though I understood the concept of earth, I feel like I am missing something."
[Of course, you are missing something. But it is not an energy circulation method. It is understanding. How can your puny mind, understand the true concept of earth? You are not even close, you barely scratched the surface.
Once you understand the true concept of it, then you would understand that you don't really need any circulation method for cultivation.
Anyway, understanding is a slow process, but you are lucky that you managed to get that Ticket right now. Use that and see and you will know what I am talking about.
Keep in mind is that you need to have your own comprehension and understanding in your path of cultivation.
Only then can you draw out the maximum potential of the cultivation technique you are using.
If I hold your hand and guide you through that process too much, you might gain something, but you would be robbing yourself of too much.]
Viswa nodded solemnly.
[On that note, don't bother joining any instructor for your cultivation. It is my responsibility as your guide to help you with that.
But you can join all the combat classes. Join everything that you are eligible to join.]
Viswa was stumped. He can understand the part of having no instructor. After all, just from today's situation, he managed to connect with one of the legacies because of his experience with digging the tunnel.
Mr. Guide might not give proper reasons, but he just proved to himself how he could teach Viswa. He is sure that no teacher would be a match for him. But why does he need to learn all the combat methods?
"Mr. Guide, don't you think that learning all might be counterproductive? After all, I may not be able to focus on anything and just end up useless."
[Who said you are useful now? You are already useless. Just do as I say. Why are you asking so many questions? Anyway, we will start our own combat training at dawn tomorrow. You will understand everything slowly. For now, get some rest.]
With that, Mr. Guide disappeared without giving Viswa any chance to speak.
Viswa sighed and opened the system to check the reward he got for unlocking an achievement.
The ticket section is glowing with a 1
He clicked on it and then selected the only option that is in that section.
[TICKET OF EXPERIENCE
DESCRIPTION: CAN BE USED TO EXPERIENCE OF BEING A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ENTITY (LIVING & NON-LIVING) FOR TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.
DO YOU WANT TO USE THE TICKET?]
Viswa was stunned by the description of the ticket. If what it said is really true and it is taken at literal value, then he could experience being anything for a day.
But he didn't select to use the ticket at the moment.
He just closed the system and went to sleep.
He has a long day ahead, so he decided to at least get a good night's sleep.
The next morning, before dawn, Viswa woke up naturally per his biological clock. At that exact moment, there is a knock on the door.
*knock* *knock*
He guessed who it could be and he is right about that.
Sir Warden is standing outside the room.
"Let's go."
He didn't waste his time with any words.
Viswa followed him out and they soon entered the adjoining forest behind the academy. When they reached deep enough and made sure that nowhere is around.
"Remove your shirt and sit down." Sir Warden said as he took out a small glass vial.
Viswa did as he was told.
Sir Warden dripped some of the liquid in that vial on Viswa's neck. It didn't look much different from water.
Viswa felt a burning sensation. But it is not that harsh.
"Its going to hurt now."
Sir Warden warned and when Viswa braced for it, he placed his two fingers on the neck and injected his spiritual energy
Viswa felt like his neck was set on fire. He gritted his teeth and all of his muscles were tense.
"Argh…"
He held himself back from screaming his lungs out.
Sir Warden kept on injecting the energy and soon, a red glowing pattern appeared on Viswa's neck.
Sir Warden frowned when he noticed it. He retracted his spiritual energy and told Viswa.
"Your brand is one of the common ones used by Demon Nobility. As long as someone from the same lineage of the nobility with pureblood is within your slave brand range, you won't feel the pain.
And from my inspection, your brand is working perfectly. So, there is only one answer for your feeling."
"A Sea Demon is inside the academy?"
Viswa said in shock.
Sir Warden nodded slightly and asked.
"So, are you feeling the brand burning now?"
"Yes."
"What about when you are in the dorms?"
"No, I didn't feel it."
"There is a huge chance, that someone from the freshmen is a demon. But if they are, they would have been spotted by the headmaster yesterday.
And if they can really hide their identity from the headmaster, then they are too powerful. They might not even need to hide at all.
Something is wrong."
Viswa didn't know what to say to that.
He has no experience regarding demons and he doesn't know much about them, except for what the original body carried.
But he knew that demons are bad news. No matter what kind of decision he makes, he is going to be fighting against the demons to fulfill his mission.
There is a complete silence for a moment and Sir Warden spoke up.
"Keep this a secret for now. As far as I know, Sea Demons are not capable of disguising themselves as humans. And there is no way a half-demon could satisfy the conditions of a Pureblooded Sea Demon.
Their presence itself is inexplicable here.
Let's hope there is a flaw in your slave brand and I was just not capable of finding it out.
Meanwhile, I will investigate and see if there is anything wrong with the freshmen and seniors present. Those are the only people that could have caused a reaction to you. Just keep an eye out and tell me if you are having any reactions."
"Alright"
Viswa nodded and both of them came back to the dorms.
"I won't go to the dorms now. Is it okay if I exercise a bit?"
Sir Warden nodded and said.
"There is a freshman training area, near your dormitory building. You can go there and train. You will have some equipment as well if you need it."
"Thank you."
Viswa said and walked towards the building that Sir Warden pointed out.
It is just dawn now and there are not many people awake. The training area is actually completely empty. After all, this is the first day of freshmen and everyone is still tired from the admission test.