Chapter 99: Suits and Stares

As the clock hit 9:00, the doors to the lecture hall flew open and a woman walked in.

The moment she entered the class, the air changed; everyone stopped talking and looked to the front.

The woman was an elf seemingly in her mid 30s, but who really knows what her real age is. She had long silver hair that was tied in a bun, and piercing silver eyes. Fitting for her heritage as an elf, she was incredibly beautiful, and her elf ears stood tall in pride.

She wore a black form fitting suit that showed her mature beauty without shame and made the male students look twice.

She was the same elf that betted that Valerian would win the ranking tournament against her professor colleague.

She didn’t need to announce herself; she didn’t need to say even a single word, as the mana that rolled off her clearly showed her strength and standing.

’Holy fuck... she’s an Ascendant...’

The mana around her clearly showed that she had left the mortal ranks and entered the realm beyond.

’Would it work on someone like her? Only one way to find out... [Dragon Eyes]’

│─────── STATUS ─────── │

│ Name : Lyanna Silverthorne

│ Age : ???

│ Race : ???

│ ─────── ORIGIN ─────── │

│ Bloodline : ???

│ Physique : ???

│ Core : Ascendant

│ ────── ATTRIBUTES ────── │

│ Vitality : ???

│ Strength : ???

│ Agility : ???

│ Dexterity : ???

│ Intelligence : SSS-

│ Mana : ???

│ Charm : SS+

│ ─────── AFFINITIES ─────── │

│ ???

│ ─────── TITLES ─────── │

│ ???

│ ─────── SKILLS ─────── │

│ [Racial Skills]

│ ???

│ [Unique Skill]

│ ???

│ ─────── BOND ─────── │

│ Bound Entity : None

’...’

’Well, that was a whole lot of nothing...’

There was basically no information whatsoever he could gain from the status, as her existence was something Valerian’s [Dragon Eyes] could not yet pierce.

And worse yet, the woman, Lyanna, turned to Valerian like she noticed what he tried to do. But she didn’t say anything and just smiled at him.

"Welcome, new students. My name is Lyanna Silverthorne, and I will be the professor responsible for you during your time at the academy. If you have any questions or things you want to tell me, my door is always open for you."

Surprisingly, Lyanna wasn’t as cold as her appearance or standing as an Ascendant would suggest. And the nervousness in the class disappeared a bit.

"You twenty have a special standing among the first years. You are the strongest and most talented this generation has to offer, but you can’t expect to always stay in the elite class. If someone were to beat you and take your rank, you would also leave us and join one of the other classes. So give it your all and study hard."

It wasn’t something new to them that they could lose their rank and place in the elite class with every duel they take, but hearing it so plainly from their teacher still made some nervous.

"You see, I’m someone that works well physically. I think that me standing here and just talking about some topic won’t help you much. So, as the first order of business, let’s go to the training grounds and fight!"

With the cheery way Lyanna talked about fighting, some students weren’t sure if she was being serious, but as the seconds stretched on and her smile didn’t disappear, they realized that she was serious.

"What are you waiting for? Let’s go!"

With a bright smile, Lyanna walked out of the classroom, and the students began to stand up.

"Fighting so early in the morning..."

Arthur was still slightly drowsy, as the time in the castle trained him to sleep as long as he wanted to. But now standing up so early and then fighting in the first period...

"Don’t be such a baby."

Valerian stood up and pulled Arthur up from his seat. Seraphine left her seat as well, and then the three made their way out of the class and followed behind Lyanna.

Their walk took a few minutes and two teleportation gates, but then they reached the training area, and like everything in the academy, it was way bigger than anyone could imagine.

It was a hall with ceilings that reached over a kilometer high and a length that was almost at the max range of Valerian’s spatial perception.

Lyanna turned to the group of students and pointed to a hallway on the side of the training grounds.

"You can go change there. If you hold your dorm ring to the terminal, you will get your combat uniform. Put it on and come back in five minutes."

The students nodded and walked into the hallway. After a few meters, they reached a crossroad that led to two different changing rooms.

Without exchanging a word, the group split into a boys’ group and a girls’ group as they went into their specific changing rooms.

Inside, Valerian found the terminal Lyanna was talking about and held his ring in front of it. After a second of waiting, a folded uniform appeared in his hands.

He quickly changed into it and walked out of the changing room with Arthur.

Because of Valerian’s standing as the Apex, his combat uniform was obviously a bit special compared to the rest.

The normal uniform consisted of a close fitting black bodysuit built for movement, reinforced around the shoulders, knees, and forearms. Thin violet lines and small patches of star like patterns ran along the sides, giving it a subtle cosmic look without being too flashy. A few belts and straps held the suit in place, while heavy black boots and gloves completed the practical design.

Like everything surrounding the academy, it had the cosmos and stars as a theme.

But Valerian’s uniform looked a bit different. It was sleek and almost regal, a fitted black combat suit traced with thin silver lines and faint violet light. Light armor covered the shoulders, forearms, and legs, while long strips of fabric hung from the waist. Their dark inner sides shimmered like a night sky filled with distant stars, giving the otherwise practical outfit a subtle celestial look.

Valerian was getting a bit suspicious. Seemingly everything surrounding the academy had something to do with space or the cosmos, almost like the principal designed the academy uniforms specifically for him long ago.

The rest of the students walked out of the changing rooms, and soon Seraphine joined the two. She wore the same combat suit that Arthur was wearing; the tight fitting nature of the uniform accentuated her curves wonderfully and made Valerian look for a moment longer.

Her silver hair was tied in a tight high ponytail so that it wouldn’t get in the way of the training.

"You all look amazing!"

Lyanna clapped her hands with a bright smile as she looked at the students. Most of them were looking in Valerian’s direction, partly because of the special design of the combat suit, as the male students mostly thought that his was way cooler, while the female students looked at him for a different reason.

Because the uniform was almost skin tight, it showed almost every muscle beneath the fabric. And paired with Valerian’s ridiculously high Charm stat, he practically attracted the gaze of everyone.

Even Seraphine had to force herself to stop looking at the abs that showed through the fabric to not seem like a creep.

Lyanna ignored the stares Valerian was getting and continued with her lesson.

"I will split all of you into ten groups, then you will spar against your partner until I say to stop. And importantly: you are not allowed to use any mana whatsoever. It’s only about physical body training."

After a short pause, she looked in Valerian’s and Arthur’s direction.

"You two have to spar together. Your level is a bit too high for the others."

It was understandable; Valerian and Arthur were both at a way higher rank than the rest, and they already showed during the finale that, even without mana, they were incredibly powerful.

She began to distribute the rest into pairs so that everyone had a sparring partner.

While Arthur and Valerian stood across from each other and ready to fight, Seraphine was paired with a vampire girl.

She had shoulder length white hair and blood like crimson eyes. Her skin was so pale it almost looked unhealthy, with visible fangs.

She was at B+ and pretty close to breaking through to A-, and vampires were known to be disproportionately strong for their rank, as their actual strength can heavily rely on their bloodline and the purity of the blood they consume over time.

Seraphine readied herself for the fight; she wasn’t the best at unarmed fighting, rather relying on her perfect mana control, various affinities, and deep mana pool. So she was slightly nervous about the fight.

Lyanna looked at the students as they stood across from their partners.

"Ready. Set. Fight!"

And the duels began.