Chapter 66: Let The Battle Begins

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Let The Battle Begins

After class ended, Aeon and the rest of the students headed outside the lecture hall toward the cafeteria. It was break time, and they had exactly one hour before their next class started.

The academy cafeteria was exceptionally elegant and spacious, filled with dining students from multiple year levels.

By using Academy Points, a student could purchase any type of meal they desired. Naturally, the more expensive a meal was, the higher the grade of the magical ingredients used to prepare it.

Thanks to the 50,000 Academy Points he had received from the purple card inside his top ranker reward box, Aeon was able to easily buy a premium meal for his entire group, treating them all to a grand feast.

Soon, the hour mark arrived, and everyone prepared for their next class. Because the upcoming period was a practical Training class, those who followed the Warrior path were grouped together to be taught by a warrior cultivator, while the mages filtered off to be instructed by a mage professor.

As for Soul path cultivators, across the entire freshman class, there was only a single one—making her path incredibly rare. Evelyn Bloodborn sat alone at a table in the cafeteria, temporarily unsure of where she was supposed to report.

Suddenly, a dark silhouette materialized right beside her. It was Professor Kael, the Vampire instructor. Evelyn didn’t panic. Maintaining her confident and refined demeanor, she simply looked up over her shoulder.

"How can I help you, Professor Kael?" Evelyn asked, her voice captivating and ethereal.

Professor Kael adjusted his eyeglasses with a subtle flick of his finger before stating his objective. "The Headmistress wishes to see you. Come with me."

Evelyn was neither confused nor taken aback by the news. On the contrary, she had been subtly anticipating this exact visit. It was public knowledge that Headmistress Nyxara was an esteemed Soul Master.

Since she herself shared the same path, it was highly logical that Nyxara intended to evaluate her as a potential disciple.

Evelyn stood up, smoothed down her uniform skirt properly, and offered a polite smile to Kael. "Very well. Let us go."

Kael lifted his right hand and crisply snapped his fingers. Snap! Instantly, a glowing magic circle materialized beneath their feet, flashing once before both of them vanished along with the arrays.

The next moment, they reappeared within a vast, pure white plane that seemed to stretch on without a visible end. A few meters away from them sat a large, imposing executive desk.

Seated in the chair behind the desk was Headmistress Nyxara. She was thoroughly immersed in reviewing a stack of paperwork, though she was clearly already aware of their arrival. Her long white hair was tied back into an elegant ponytail, and her golden eyes remained locked onto the files.

Without lifting her eyes from the paperwork, her gentle voice resonated through the silent space, directed in gratitude toward Kael.

"Thank you, Professor Kael, for escorting her here. You may return to your duties."

Kael offered no spoken reply, simply giving a respectful nod. In a brief flash of displacement, he completely disappeared from the white dimension.

Left alone, Evelyn focused her gaze on Nyxara before lowering her head in a polite, respectful bow. "Greetings, Headmistress."

"Hmm. Welcome, child. Do you mind waiting for me a brief moment?" Nyxara replied, her pen still moving across the documents.

After five minutes, she finally set down her pen and leaned back comfortably against the cushions of her chair.

"Hah... those damn cultists. Their little stunt has saddled me with an absurd mountain of work. I really hate paperwork the most in this job," she complained casually, openly cursing the Voidbound Cultists who had attacked the new students.

She then locked her golden eyes onto Evelyn, who was standing obediently a few meters away from the desk. "Come closer, child."

Evelyn complied, walking forward until she stopped exactly one meter away from the edge of the mahogany desk.

Nyxara smiled warmly. "Do you know the reason you have been summoned here?"

Evelyn nodded, replying with confidence. "Yes, Headmistress. It’s because I am a Soul path cultivator. Since there are rarely any qualified individuals capable of teaching my specific path here, I assumed you would be the one instructing me."

Nyxara nodded, her smooth voice carrying an ethereal quality. " you are not just a simple soul master, but an Affinity-Bearing soul master. One who harbors three distinct affinities."

Evelyn’s eyes widened in profound shock. No one—not a single living soul—knew that she possessed affinities. Not even the high-tier awakening crystals used during her awakening had been capable of detecting them.

"How... how could you know that?" Evelyn asked in disbelief. She knew she couldn’t defeat the entity before her, so she didn’t foolishly adopt a hostile defensive stance.

If the Headmistress truly wanted her dead, Nyxara could have executed her a million times over with a thought.

Nyxara chuckled, thoroughly amused by Evelyn’s stunned expression. "When an individual reaches a sufficiently high rank in Soul mastery, they can seamlessly look past the physical vessel and see the fundamental soul of anyone they want.

Furthermore... I happen to be an Affinity-Bearing soul master myself." She calmly revealed her own hidden trait while clearing up Evelyn’s confusion.

The disclosure left Evelyn even more bewildered. Although Nyxara’s prestige as an Ex-rank Soul Master was universally recognized, she had never expected the Headmistress to also wield elemental affinities through her soul.

"Your Emotion, Blood, and Soul affinities are remarkably extraordinary. Especially your Soul affinity," Nyxara evaluated, listing the exact affinities effortlessly. "You possess the latent potential to become one of the most powerful soul masters within our Grand Star Cluster... and perhaps even beyond, provided you apply yourself relentlessly."

At that exact moment, Evelyn felt completely exposed, as if her entire being were stripped bare beneath Nyxara’s golden gaze, unable to safeguard a single secret.

"Are you reading my mind?" Evelyn asked, doing her absolute best to stabilize her cracking composure. Telepathy was a standard technique for advanced soul cultivators, and powerhouses could map the memories of lesser targets at will.

"Yup. And I can naturally read the architecture of your soul as well. That unique physique of yours is incredibly dangerous. I could almost feel its instinctual urge to devour me just now. Luckily for me, you are still far too weak to execute such a feat," Nyxara casually replied, throwing in a lighthearted joke regarding Evelyn’s underlying physique.

"Alright, then. That is enough teasing for today," Nyxara stated, clasping her hands together and resting her elbows on the desk surface. "Within this world, I am the only individual truly equipped to guide you through the path of soul cultivation, given our matching affinity traits. What do you say to officially becoming my disciple?"

Evelyn reflected on the offer for a split second before dropping down onto one knee, clasping her hands together in a formal martial salute. "Greetings, Master. I am deeply honored to be accept as your disciple."

Nyxara smiled broadly, nodding her head in satisfaction. "Excellent, girl. You may stand."

Upon her command, Evelyn rose back to her feet. Nyxara sharply snapped her fingers. Instantly, several ancient, heavy manuals materialized out of thin air onto the desk.

"The flow of time within this dimension moves significantly faster than the outsideworld, so we will have an abundance of hours to burn before your next scheduled class. Shall we commence our first lesson, my disciple?" With that, Nyxara officially began her comprehensive instruction of the Soul path to Evelyn.

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Meanwhile, across a separate sector of the vast campus grounds, exactly twelve of the new top 20 rankers stood inside a colossal combat arena. They were all dressed in standard-issue training uniforms, assembled directly before Tharos, the towering Titan professor.

Tharos remained clad in his heavy battle armor, his massive greatsword clung securely to his back as his piercing green eyes locked onto the small group.

"So, the twelve of you are the ones who are Warrior path cultivators, huh? Well, let us see what you’ve got," Tharos boomed, his deep voice heavily rumbling across the arena floor.

A wicked, ruthless grin spread across his face as he delivered the instructions. "The process of today’s training is simple: fight each other. There is no superior method to refine your martial capabilities than raw combat."

Several students felt a distinct chill run down their spines at the sight of his cruel smile, but they still moved to obey. The freshmen began exchanging cautious glances, silently calculating which classmate they should challenge first.

Suddenly, without a single word of warning, one student drew his blade and launched a lightning-fast strike at the classmate nearest to him.

Shing! Whoosh!

Sensing the incoming threat just in time, the defender instantly ducked, pivoting smoothly to thrust his spear in a sharp counter-attack. The tip of the spear clashed violently against the descending sword edge, sending bright sparks flying.

Clang!

The defender narrowed his eyes, glaring intently at the person who had ambushed him. It was Adrian Ashford.

"What is the meaning of this?!" seeing that Adrian merely kept grinning and refused to disengage his pressure, a vein throve on the defender’s temple as he demanded an explanation in anger.

The surrounding students quickly read the room—as did the defender. Professor Tharos had explicitly instructed them to fight. All it took was a single student initiating a spark to set off the entire chain reaction.

Alistair Ashford moved next, launching a fierce assault against another nearby classmate, and the training session instantly exploded into chaos.

Aeon remained standing perfectly still, calmly waiting to see who would he have to fight. Before long, a towering silhouette locked eyes with him and began marching directly toward his position.

The challenger was a heavily muscular, 7.6-foot tall Titan with light orange hair and striking blue eyes. He came to a halt a few meters away from Aeon. When he spoke, his deep voice carried the absolute dignity of an honorable martial artist.

"I would be honored to engage in a fair match with you, Mr. Astaraeas. I hope you do not mind my forwardness."

Aeon smiled, instantly taking a liking to the giant’s straightforward, respectful personality. "I don’t mind at all. And just call me Aeon. Since we’re fellow students, I’d also like to address you by your name."

The Titan nodded, accepting Aeon’s proposal. "Aeon, is it? I’m Varkun. Let’s have a good match, then."

He then stepped into position and clenched his fists, his expression turning serious.

"Here I come!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Varkun lunged forward, disappearing from his original position.

Whoosh!