Chapter 12 First Class

Luna seemed to have already recovered after Number One left the room but as soon as she saw him again, her eyes dropped down to his waist and her face turned red and she glared at him. She has been so annoying lately that Number One couldn't help to tease her more.

"You act as if it's all my fault when you were the one who entered my room uninvited," Number One pointed out with a shrug. "I told you already. If you want to see me naked, you just have to ask. I will show you and even let you touch it."

"You…" Luna was lost for words and shook her head as if trying to throw a picture out of her mind. "I would rather burn in flames than see it again."

"So you are saying you are attracted to girls then?" Number One countered with an amused smile.

Luna paused as she looked Number One up and down before returning to her confident self, "I never said you are ugly. I'm just not a fan of the thing between your legs."

Number One was proud of his body so whatever she said didn't affect him at all. He pursed his lips as he approached her and continued, "Well, you see… If you are attracted to boys, then one day you will have to—"

"No! Stop baiting me. I'm not going to talk about it," Luna immediately shut down his provocations and turned around abruptly. "The class for the top students has already started and you are late."

Luna was a little too aggressive with her turn which gave Number One a nice view to look at. He was still a young man at his hormonal peak, so he didn't mind taking a peek at Luna's body. Even though she was annoying, her muscles were perfectly toned from training and she had enough curves in the right areas.

The female students of the Winged Soul Academy wore white skirts and matching white jackets as the Academy uniform. Luna stayed unique by adding a pair of over-the-knee socks and a fancy hair clip that held her long hair together.

"You didn't have to wait for me," Number One pointed out as he followed after her. He was tempted to remain in his comfy hoodie collection but decided to wear his new Academy Uniform.

It was almost similar to Luna's uniform beside having pants instead of a skirt. Number One had to admit it was good quality and at least made him look cooler.

"You think I wanted to see you?" Luna questioned sarcastically as she led the way. "Don't flatter yourself. It was Teacher Darius who asked me to bring you. He didn't know what happened between us in the morning so I can't blame him."

"Something happened in the morning?" Number One feigned ignorance. "I don't know what you are talking about."

Luna's neck bruises had already disappeared by now and his wounds were also gone. Since they had no hard feelings from the taxi incident, they could just pretend nothing happened and move on.

Luna didn't seem like a fan of that idea as she glared back at him and sped up her pace. "Whatever."

Now it was Luna who acted like she didn't care but Number One couldn't possibly fall for it. He had no intentions of becoming friends with Luna so such an arrangement worked perfectly for him.

The Soul Academy was much smaller than Number One initially expected and they reached their class by just going down the stairs. A total of fourteen students sat down in the classroom and all their gazes gathered on Number One.

"Oh, our star has finally decided to come for the class. Welcome, welcome," Darius greeted Number One friendly as he pointed at the two seats in the front row. "I was just explaining what the student life looks like in our Winged Soul Academy. You can sit down. I will repeat myself for you."

​ The males of the top class didn't seem happy with Number One's preferential treatment but the five females in the top class didn't seem to mind. They were staring at his still wet hair with their eyes shining. They all wanted to sit next to Number One but they didn't dare to argue with the teacher.

"My apologies," Number One acknowledged his mistake as he sat down at his assigned seat. "I lost myself in my training and Luna even caught me right as I was getting out of the shower."

Luna momentarily froze at his public confession and reached out under the desk to stab her sharp nails into his thigh. Number One didn't even react which pissed her off further but she couldn't beat him up in front of everyone.

"That's fine, we didn't really progress much," Darius assured while waving his hand and returned into his teacher mode. "As I was saying, I will now tell you three things concerning your life in the Academy for the next few months. Those three things are time, the final test, and lastly the Young Dragon Summit."

Hearing the last three words, everyone in the top class turned serious. Only Number One remained clueless and had no idea what Darius was talking about.

"As you have probably noticed, our Academy doesn't have as many students as you would imagine but the reason is simple. You are not in the Main Academy yet. We use this branch to filter candidates who somehow passed through the Selection without having the necessary potential," Darius explained honestly. "Once you pass the Final Test, you will be allowed to enter the main Academy which has thousands of greatest talents in the Outer World."

Darius gave all top students a glance before pressing a button on his desk. The blackboard behind him suddenly lit up and turned out to be a screen with a huge title at the top.

[Soul Artist Ladder]

"Humans have always trained their Souls to increase their lifespan but only in the last century were we able to distinguish various stages that give Soul Artists a challenge to cross," Darius described while pointing at the screen. "Behind me, you can see six main ranks one can achieve as a Soul Artist. If you look at the red line, you will also notice a threshold required to even attempt the Final Test."

[Soul Novice - 100]

[Soul Disciple - 500]

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[Soul Adept - 1000]

[Soul Master - 2500]

[Soul Grandmaster - 5000]

[Soul King - 10000]

Number One was taken aback by the numbers since he never actually received any teachings. Once his pseudo-Master discovered his trash Soul Talent, he didn't bother teaching him anything. The only thing he knew was the insanely greedy Legendary Soul Art that emptied his Soul every time he used it.

"Soul Energy is measured in special units that group you into those ranks. To take the Final Test, you need to become a Soul Adept where your Soul Energy crosses a thousand," Darius continued as he glanced at Luna and Number One. "I'm sure most of you have already reached the rank of Soul Adept but not everyone is at that level yet. Everything clear so far?"

Darius didn't seem like he actually expected any questions but Number One was a total newbie. "I wonder, how can we check what rank we are right now?"

Everyone in the class raised their eyebrows in surprise as if he was joking. A male student from the back complained. "Aren't you in the top class? Why are you asking such trivial questions? You already wasted enough of our time."

Number One turned around casually, his face not amused. He immediately spotted a cocky teen with puffy cheeks and made a mental note of his face before returning to his original position.

"I'm actually self-taught and never received any kind of teachings," Number pointed out calmly before commenting, "Imagine having all kinds of teachers from a young age and not even crossing a thousand Soul Power. I would find it embarrassing to even talk about wasting time."

Oof!

The whole class gasped at the clap back and the ladies even chuckled in support. Even though no one besides Luna and Number One crossed a thousand Soul Power, they weren't directly affected by the burn.

The cocky teen's cheeks turned red like a tomato but when he opened his mouth to fight back, Darius slapped the desk to silence him. "Sit your ass back down. You can talk shit when you can destroy a training puppet. Until then, you don't get any say in my class."

The teen was momentarily stunned and sat down in a heartbeat. Darius only shook his head at that fearful reaction and marked an X next to his name on the list. He would actually respect him more if he kept his attitude instead of dropping it in fear.

"So you want to test the level of your Soul Energy?" Darius asked as they returned to the topic and withdrew a white crystal from his ring. "I'm actually curious myself so you can use this to test it."

Number One caught it mid-air after Darius threw it and inspected the circular crystal. "How does it work?"

"It's a similar Testing Crystal as you saw in the Selection but this one tests the quantity of your Soul Energy. You just need to insert all your Soul Energy inside and it will change colors based on the amount you have," Darius explained excitedly. "I'm a Soul Grandmaster myself and the crystal will shine with blue light if I test myself."

Number One was a bit hesitant since it would expose his true strength but with everyone watching him, he couldn't bail out anymore. He was also curious himself so he prayed and poured all of his Soul Energy inside.

'I hope it's at least a thousand…'