Chapter 4: Trouble
Nux had just gone out of his dorm room, wearing a shiny silver ring. It wasn't just any ordinary, it was a Storage Ring. Inside, a mountain of gold coins, 10,000 gold coins to exact.
"Now, what's happening there?" His attention was caught by a small crowd of professors standing in front of the school gate.
With his attention piqued, he walked towards there, wanting to know what's the commotion about.
"You poor Valoria Academy." A taunting voice, full of disdain and mockery reached his ears. The owner of the voice was man, wearing a teacher uniform, slightly different from the ones worn by Valoria Academy teachers.
'A professor from another school, perhaps?' He thought. He wondered, what was their purpose of taunting them?
"We, the noble Deaconia Academy, challenge your first year of commoners to battle against our noble first years." The same man said again, laughing loudly too. The other professors from Deaconia Academy laughed as well, while the professors from Valoria Academy, face twisted in disgust.
"There's no way we'd accept! The kids just awakened a week ago!" Seri, a male teacher from Valoria Academy refuted back. In a sense, he was right. They, the first years just awakened ago. Even if they have entered a Dungeon, they are still just learning.
"Ha? Don't tell me you commoners are so inferior to us nobles that you are too scared to accept a battle?" Another teacher from Deaconia Academy said.
'Hm.. annoying. Should I ask my father to wipe them out?' Irritated by the noble teachers attitude, Nux had an idea of asking his father for help. Quickly, he removed that thought. 'Nah, there's no way Father would agree'
"You bastard...!" Seri angrily said. He, along with the other teachers are having a hard time coping with the noble teachers attitudes.
"How about this?" An elderly voice came from behind them, startling everyone. "Give us, Valoria Academy a month. What do you say, arrogant brats?"
The owner of the voice was an elderly man, with flowing brown hair and beard. He was the dean of Valoria Academy, Arthur.
The professors from Deaconia flinched. This was someone they could never fight against with, even with all of them combined.
"Hmph, fine. Let's go, staying in this poor place makes me sick." Said another professor, the instigator of this nonsense.
Only when the dean arrived did the professor heaved a sigh of relief. "Young Nux, come with me." Only when Arthur called out to Nux did they realized a student was among them.
Nux reluctantly followed Arthur. He was just about to buy himself a new dagger, yet he was stopped. Well, there's nothing he could do, the old man in front of him is the dean after all.
— Dean's Office —
"I believe those nobles would try to investigate every students background." As soon as Arthur sat down, he started his talk. His voice was solemn, looking at Nux directly.
"I'm not sure if they will be able to find out about your noble status, but if they do, there's a high chance they'll do anything to poach you."
This is what Arthur had in mind. Nux was one of the geniuses that entered his school, and losing any one of them would deal a big blow to him. Nux, not understanding the gravity of the situation, spoke.
"I plan to join this school in the upcoming battle." Nux casually said, hoping to ease the Dean's mind. Other student might stutter or feel pressured in front of the dean, but he wasn't. He was used to being around his father, mother and step mothers who's status and personal strength were way above Arthur.
Arthur face brightened. A slight, gentle smile appeared on his wrinkled face. Truth to be told, he wasn't sure if a noble blood is going to join the causes of commoners. He initiated this talk just to confirm that Nux won't switch sides. Now, he got something even better. Nux was joining them! Another genius added to the mix.
....
Nux was walking along the corridor, going towards the place Arthur instructed him to. On his hands were a piece of paper, with runic symbols he can't understand written on them.
After passing a few hallways and corridor, he found himself in front of a vault, protected by someone else. Seeing him, the guard scrutinize him.
"The dean told me to give you this." Not minding the prying eyes, he extended his arms, reaching out for the guard. Seeing the message, the guard nodded his head.
'He can understand it?' Surprised, Nux thought. Moments later, a leather pouch was handed to him.
"It's yours now. Go." The guard immediately sent him away. Nux, with a leather pouch in hand went straight to his dorm room. He was excited to know what's inside of it, after all, he can sense a dense amount of mana inside! Is this the dean's way of saying that he will help him get stronger? He wasn't sure yet, but he was never going to forget about this favor.
— Room —
After cleaning the mess he made last night, Nux sat on the bed, opening the pouch and revealing a fist size, blue crystal gem. The mana in his surroundings became denser!
It was a mana stone! This kind of items are rare, especially in a low level kingdom like
Valoria.
Sitting in a lotus position, Nux hurriedly cultivate. He can't wait to absorb it. He was sure that he was going to jump by many levels.
Clear, bluish energy seeped out of the gem, turning into strings of energy absorbed by Nux's greedy body. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours. Yet, the mana gem didn't show any signs of diminishing!