Monday, the weather was clear.
Following the seat numbers distributed earlier, Lin Ke arrived at the classroom for "Emblem Preparatory Class, Class Three" and found that several classmates had arrived early.
"Lin Ke, over here!" Following the voice, Lin Ke discovered that Situ Bo was actually sitting beside him.
In the classroom, twelve desks were divided into two rows. Situ Bo sat in the second row, second from the left, while Lin Ke's seat was on the left side of the second row, near the window. Sitting in front of him was none other than his former classmate Tang Yuhan.
"It's quite a coincidence that the three of us were placed in the same class and even seated together," Lin Ke said. Previously, Lin Ke had only had a casual relationship with the two because he hadn't considered awakening his Emblem. But in this new environment, seeing familiar faces made him feel particularly comfortable.
Tang Yuhan also greeted Lin Ke, saying, "It's probably not just the same class. According to what the senior students have said, people who sit together on the first day of school are likely to form small groups for activities throughout the year."
Similar to the teaching system in all preparatory classes in the Xia Nation, high school (10th-12th grade) students who had just awakened their Emblems were taught in small classes with additional extracurricular guidance in small groups at 12th grade. During normal classes, there were around a dozen students in each class, and during field activities, they formed standard groups of five, including one mentor.
When assigning classes and groups, the school considered each person's Emblem characteristics to ensure that the classes and groups were evenly balanced, with students complementing each other.
"I didn't expect you to come here for classes," Lin Ke said to Situ Bo. Situ Bo, as a member of the Situ family in Yunzhou State, had the qualifications to attend a private school in Yunzhou, even though it was just a branch of the family.
Situ Bo replied calmly, "The Situ family in Yunzhou is so large that one more person doesn't make a difference. Besides, it's been hundreds of years since we established our own branch, so there's no need for me to go back and attend classes with the main family."
The Yue City branch of the Situ family had been independent from the main Situ family for nearly three hundred years, and it was normal for relationships to change over the generations.
"Let's not talk about that. Let me introduce you to this person," Tang Yuhan gestured to the girl next to her. "This is Shi Mengyao from Class Seven. From now on, we're all classmates."
In fact, as soon as Lin Ke entered the classroom, he noticed the beautiful girl next to Tang Yuhan. She was so stunning that it was impossible not to notice, but he had felt too embarrassed to greet her earlier. Now that Tang Yuhan had introduced her, it was a good opportunity.
"Hello, I'm Lin Ke. Nice to meet you."
Shi Mengyao nodded slightly and said, "Hello."
Before class started, the group of them chatted with each other for a while.
At this moment, Lin Ke noticed that Situ Bo and Tang Yuhan were different from what he remembered. In the previous two years, because all the students in the class knew that they were likely to awaken their Emblems in the future, there was always a sense of awe in their interactions. These two individuals were also seen as aloof in everyone's impression.
After some conversation today, Lin Ke realized that Situ Bo was just a normal high school student, and Tang Yuhan was even quite talkative, leading discussions among the group.
"Besides Situ, our class surprisingly has two other noble students, one from the Yuechen City Lei family and one from the Xia family,"
[Note: Xia is a normal Chinese Surname. It has the same pronunciation as the Xia Nation]
Tang Yuhan said, pointing to two empty seats not far away and speaking very quietly. "I heard that the leaders of both families haven't been in good health lately. If they don't produce a Nobel Level within ten years, they might lose their noble status."
The Nobel-level referred to the Level 60+ of Emblems. Beyond that, there were King-level (Level 80+) and Saint-level (Level 90+) experts. Below the Level 60s, people simply referred to the level, and there were no additional titles.
"The quality of Emblem education in public high schools is continually improving too, you see Situ is here as well," Lin Ke joked after chatting with everyone for a while.
After about fifteen minutes, all the students in the class had arrived, and the homeroom teacher also entered the classroom.
A middle-aged woman entered the classroom and stood at the center of the podium, saying, "Hello, everyone. My name is Wang Fang, and I am the homeroom teacher for Emblem Preparatory Class Three. I am also responsible for teaching you two subjects: 'Monsterology' and 'Emblem History.' Although I am just an ordinary person, I graduated from the Capital Management University's 'Interdimensional Logistics and Research Department.' After graduation, I worked in the Interdimensional Combat Support Division for ten years, so I have extensive knowledge in the areas of monsters, Emblems, and otherworldly dimensions. I hope to help you build a strong foundation this year and achieve your dreams of getting into your ideal university."
Emblem-users were not very common in the human world, and teachers who taught regular subjects were usually ordinary people. However, without a doubt, they had made significant contributions to the battle between humans and monsters.
For high school students like Lin Ke, apart from the mentors for extracurricular groups, most of their teachers were ordinary people who had once been active on the frontlines of the battle between humans and monsters.
After introducing herself, Wang Fang organized the students to introduce themselves. Since they were meeting for the first time, everyone was somewhat reserved, and each person spoke a few sentences before ending their introduction. Fortunately, there were only twelve students in the class, so they could at least remember each other's names after one round.
After the self-introductions were completed, Wang Fang pointed to their seats and said, "I believe you've also learned from the information provided by the previous senior students that the school has already assigned extracurricular study groups based on your Emblem characteristics while organizing the classes. In our class, the twelve of you have been divided into three groups. The four people sitting next to each other from left to right in each row form a group. This afternoon, you'll report to your extracurricular mentors in groups, and it's a chance for you to get to know each other."
With Wang Fang's encouragement to engage in free discussion, Lin Ke and the others could continue chatting, but this time the conversation was more formal.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Situ Bo took the initiative and said, "I'll go first. I have a 3rd Grade Emblem. I'm proficient in using a sickle as my weapon and specialize in close-range combat. My innate Emblem skill is called 'Overgrow,' which, as the name suggests, boosts my potential when I'm injured. The more severe the injury, the greater the enhancement."
With Situ Bo setting the example, everyone followed suit in introducing themselves.
Tang Yuhan continued, "I'll go next. I have a 6th Grade Emblem. I've had a strong interest in medicine and traditional Chinese herbs since I was young. My innate Emblem skill is called 'Rain of Remedies,' which can provide minor healing to those nearby every twenty minutes."
After nodding in acknowledgment, Shi Mengyao spoke softly, "I have a 5th Grade Emblem. I enjoy studying illusion techniques and have also learned formations. My innate Emblem skill is called 'Serenade of Soothing Bells,' which can dispel common status abnormalities every half an hour. I prefer using elemental staffs as weapons."
When they mentioned Emblem attributes such as illusion, time, and space, the expressions of the three of them subtly changed.
Among the ten primary attributes, the attributes of space, time, and illusion seemed to be a half-tier above the others, which was why there was talk of the "Tri-Prime Attributes of Space, Time, and Illusion."
Once everyone had finished introducing themselves, the newcomer Lin Ke also followed suit, saying, "I have a 7th Grade Emblem. My innate Emblem skill is called 'Mind's Eye,' which allows me to briefly activate the 'Mind's Eye' ability every hour. As for weapons, to be honest, I've never had any experience with them. I hope to make progress as soon as possible this year."
During their earlier conversation, everyone had learned that Lin Ke's parents didn't have Emblems, so his lack of knowledge about martial techniques was not surprising to them.
"It's quite unexpected to have the 'Mind's Eye' ability," Tang Yuhan remarked.
"Although it has a short usage time and a long cooldown, if used skillfully, it can have a powerful effect," Situ Bo commented. "Talents like 'Insight' and 'Perception' can produce unexpected results when utilized."
Situ Bo's evaluation somewhat boosted Lin Ke's confidence and made him look forward to meeting his mentor in the afternoon.