On that night, Jin couldn't stop thinking about Yumi. How could he not? He never thought that one day, a beautiful girl would talk to him. And not just any girl, but the strongest and perhaps the most famous in the entire academy!
Although their conversation was short and insignificant, Jin enjoyed it and remained happy from that strange encounter they had in the library.
For someone who had been isolated his whole life and had never interacted with women, the brief conversation was a treasure.
Thoughts swirled around him more and more. "Damn, I really need to sleep; classes start tomorrow."
Jin was extremely excited for the next day, but he didn't want to repeat the same mistake he made on the first day of the opening ceremony.
Staying up late could affect him, making those unknown powers control him again. That cursed night had barely passed without him being discovered.
Jin sighed in frustration. "I hate being like a slave to this weird thing."
The situation was so hopeless that he punched himself several times to drive away the different thoughts and fall asleep.
Finally, in the middle of the night, Jin fell asleep, waking up the next morning with red eyes and exhaustion.
"Shit, I didn't get enough sleep," Jin cursed, then went to wash up and prepare for his first school day.
The first class Jin had to attend, along with all those ranked in category B, was history. The schedule for the day included only three lectures: history, followed by chaos theory, and concluding with a simple combat lesson.
The history hall was large and bustling with students. At the front of the hall was a huge oak podium for the teacher, and behind it hung a large map of the continents above a massive blackboard.
The map was intricately detailed, showing the borders, oceans, and major rivers of the continent of Marta and the nearby continents.
The hall was terraced with seats rising upward to accommodate as many students as possible.
The seats were arranged in tiers, allowing everyone a clear view of the podium and the map. The lighting was dim, creating an atmosphere of focus and calm. Large windows on the sides allowed daylight to enter, and the wooden ceiling was adorned with breathtaking carvings.
Jin sat at the back of the hall at the top because he didn't like being among many people; he was naturally solitary. Henry saw him and smiled, "Jin, congratulations on ranking first among the category B rankings!"
Jin greeted him in deligh, "Oh, Henry, it's good to see you again."
Henry replied, embarrassed, "Me too. May I sit next to you?"
Jin laughed, "You still seem shy as always. Sit down, sit down; I'll be happy to have you by my side."
Henry sat next to Jin, and they began talking about various things. Jin was happy talking to Henry; it seemed that Henry was Jin's first friend.
After a few minutes, a tall teacher with black hair and dark circles around his eyes entered. He looked thin and weak. The teacher pulled out a strange magical device that amplified his voice throughout the hall, leaving Jin astonished.
"Wow," Jin muttered in amazement.
The teacher began speaking while coughing frequently, "Hello, students," he coughed and continued, "I am Mr. Itchiki, and I will be your history teacher for this term."
"Ah, our first lesson today will be about the continent of Marta," he coughed, and his gaze seemed lifeless.
Everyone listened to him with a boredom, whispering, "Couldn't they find a better teacher than this?"
Jin somewhat agreed with what they were saying. The teacher seemed almost dead as he spoke, his voice barely audible from the back of the hall, even with the strange magical device in his hand.
The teacher began explaining, "You all will be tested at the end of each month on the lessons, and—"
He coughed heavily and continued, "Ah, excuse me. Yes, I will test you all at the end of each month, and the more advanced your grades, the more you will be rewarded with a system called points."
"Your points will be accumulated and counted alongside other courses that will also give you points based on your efforts."
"There are also other ways to earn points, including personal achievements based on certain criteria chosen by your teacher."
"Those with the highest points will be ranked at the top of your category, and you will be classified according to the number of points you accumulate."
"At the end of each year, the top three in the rankings will have the opportunity to advance to a higher category, which in your case is category A."
Then Mr. Itchiki pulled out a book from his coat. "The academy will provide you with your textbooks later, so make sure to visit the main hall in two days to get your books."
The teacher then started explaining about Marta. He talked about Marta's early history, which Jin had read about a little in the library earlier.
There were originally 9 large continents, but they were divided into 32 continents on the planet due to geographical changes in the past, the cause of which is still unknown to this day.
Marta, 4000 years ago, was initially part of another continent called Delandstia. The reason for the geographical change of Delandstia is unknown. However, a large vertical rift caused the continent to split into two.
The first continent was Marta, and the second was called Synthia. Marta was slightly larger than Synthia and had greater and more abundant resources.
Meanwhile, Synthia, with the emergence of chaos, was turned into a continent classified as a dead continent.
Dead continents are those that were overrun by chaos, with gates of the fifth category and above appearing, which the Global Awakened Government could not handle.
There were 11 dead continents out of the 32, some of which either had all their inhabitants evacuated before the disaster struck or were wiped out by chaos and all of it's people were dead.
Humans across all continents continued to live in prosperity and peace until chaos erupted 540 years ago.
The initial outbreak of chaos was caused by a man named Darko, who was the son of an ancient saint named Mira. It is said that Mira lived on a continent located in the far south of the planet called Brath.
Since the birth of Darko, the world had not known peace. Chaos swept across the world, blood was spilled, and many people perished.
The teacher then briefly spoke about the history of Darko, which Jin had already heard from his grandfather Adrian.
The teacher added, "Despite the appearance of chaotic creatures, the gods did not abandon us."
"We were granted awakening powers that protect us and enable us to stand against these catastrophic creatures."
The teacher then began to talk about the history of Marta after the age of chaos. He spoke of several wars and mentioned many names that caught Jin's attention.
The teacher specifically mentioned five names of brave warriors from a warrior tribe once called the Horakin.
The warriors Jaster, Theresa, Sasha, Iskander, and Marvind were the most prominent figures from this tribe.
The five warriors were known as the strongest and fiercest awakened ones in Marta's history, having slain tens of thousands of chaotic creatures.
They were the first to defeat one of the demonic giants and were the ones who inherited much knowledge about chaos, leaving behind many legendary weapons for future generations.
The lecture was enjoyable and filled with valuable information. Despite the teacher's frequent coughing making his explanation hard to understand, he had indeed explained it well and uniquely in a way that Jin and the others did not expect.
At the end of the lecture, the teacher, Ichiki, bid the students farewell, who seemed somewhat satisfied with their first lecture, and then moved on to the next lecture specializing in the science of chaos.
The hall was similar to the history hall but contained many models and statues engraved in the shape of various chaotic creatures.
The teacher responsible for the chaos class was named Catherine, and what a madwoman she was!
"Hello, students. Ahem, my name is Catherine, and today you will learn a little about my dear lovely chaos creatures," she said.
Everyone looked at her with disgust and astonishment, whispering among themselves, "It seems there's something wrong with her brain."
Catherine had a disgusting love for chaotic creatures. Her first lecture was about goblins.
She explained to the students about their body structure and appearance. Goblins were short with pale or sometimes grayish skin.
They had very short fingers and feet, but each goblin varied from another, with some rare cases appearing somewhat taller.
Their heads were dome-shaped, and their necks were short. Goblins had no hair or fur; they were all bald and ugly.
Catherine gave excessive and unnecessary details, irrelevant to humans, such as the anatomy and appearance of the goblin's reproductive organs or their sexual inclinations.
She then began to talk about their weaknesses. Goblins were among the easiest creatures any awakened could kill effortlessly.
Their weakness was simply their abdomen, where any minor damage, whether from a weapon or magic power, would lead to their death.
Goblins were relatively fast due to their small size and had a habit of hiding among trees or behind rocks to ambush their prey.
Catherine continued to explain more and more about goblins and the portals they emerged from. Some of this information was important, while the rest was disgusting and irrelevant.
Thus ended the chaos science lecture, which the students did not enjoy at all.
Finally, the last lecture of the day related to combat techniques began. The teacher was a dignified and calm person named John. He spoke a little about fighting and defense techniques.
This lecture was not long, as the teacher focused on urging the students to first train their physical fitness, promising that in advanced classes, they would learn more about combat techniques.
The task for the day was for the students to run two kilometers and do 40 push-ups. It was a bit challenging, but Jin was already accustomed to it as he had practiced a lot with his grandfather Adrian.
With this, all the lectures for the day ended, and everyone began to return to their rooms.
"How were the lectures today, Jin? I think they were great, and the teachers seem promising," Henry said excitedly, his eyes sparkling.
"Yes, they were good, but that teacher Catherine's lecture was not good at all."
Henry sighed in agreement, "Haha, yes, she was... hmm, she seems a bit strange."
Jin replied, "Yes, she was very strange indeed."