This is a story 3 weeks after Li Sheng was detained by the temple and a week after Levin was admitted to the Earth Academy for being blessed by Pyro.
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Walking through the marbled hall of the Academy, Levin marvelled at the sight of the corridors. Everytime he pass by this place, he just couldn't help but marvel at the beautiful design of this place, he had always lived all of his life in the slums so seeing something majestic as this was always so new to him.
'There's this cool uniform too'
Seeing himself infront of the mirror, Levin looked so satisfied with his appearance. Never in his life had he ever imagined himself dressing up nicely. Like how he only saw the dirty side of the slums, his clothes were also rags so having to wear fancy clothes was truly satisfying for him. Even if these clothes are just hand me downs, he truly appreciated having to wear it.
'Then...I finally got to learn how to read'
Entering the classroom and putting down the book that he was carrying the whole time, he was so happy that he could finally read some of the letters written onto the parchments. In the slums, beggars like him are illiterate. Li Sheng was the exception though, he thought that Li Sheng was so odd for gluing himself to the books but now that he came here in the academy, he regretted not learning how to read from the Mister that took him and Li Sheng in. He only learned how to brawl.
Since most of the classes in The Academy requires basic literacy skills, Levin was taken in by the strict instructors in the Academy and for a week straight with no rest...they injected some basic literacy skills to Levin and other illiterate children's head and now they finally learned the alphabet and read syllables.
It was a small achievement but he was satisfied with that. Better than the life in Slums.
'Speaking of Li Sheng though...I wonder how that guy is doing inside the prison'
For the crime of having assaulted a Noble, Li Sheng was locked up in Prison. He was actually sentenced to immediate execution but with the interference of the young lady of Valiere Duchy, he was sentenced to imprisonment instead. He was pretty lucky.
Sighing at that thought, Levin decided to not worry about his longtime friend. They grew up together and learned a lot of things together so he knows that Li Sheng is not the type to break over something like that. Heck that guy might even grow stronger because of that.
As the school bell rang implying that class has started. Students poured in the classroom as many others also sat with him, completely filling in the row where he is currently sitting.
"Do you smell a beggar in here?"
"Hahahaha I think so?"
"It smells like shit"
Quietly trying hard to read the book that he was given, Levin heard Chuckles from students sitting infront and behind him.
He glanced at the students below him then averted it to the ones sitting behind him. He glued his eyes to them for a few moments as he held back the provocation that they did to him before grinning himself and opened his mouth to retort.
"Damn, why are you extra noisy today? Did daddy not give you some kissy kissy? Were you not loved enough?"
With that insult, Levin managed to hit a nerve onto one of the noble kids from Verien Kingdom.
"This beggar bastard dares to utter such vulgar words...!"
With fists clenched, Felix Willow, a young Marquis from the Verian kingdom glared at Levin who was just sitting there sneering at him.
'I heard commoners don't often talk back to nobles because of that absurd law of not insulting those with class. But it seems like it doesn't apply in here'
Had this been the outside of the Academy, Levin would have been arrested for insulting a noble despite being from low birth, but because this Academy prioritizes equality and talent more than anything else. Status doesn't matter here, hence the insult that Levin just threw was deemed harmless.
"Hah, seems like this bastard still doesn't know how this place runs...."
Says Felix as he approached Levin and grabbed hold of his collar. He raised his fist at Levin who just let things be with a smirk.
"And what do you think you are doing, Young Master Willow?"
A voice called out to Felix from below, right in the podium. It was a good looking man with golden hair. A man known by everyone in the Continent. Crowned Prince of the Archanus Empire, Lucian De Vere Archanus.
"Violence is prohibited in this sacred grounds. If you wish to beat someone up, settle it through a duel."
Lucian uttered with such authority on his tone which made Felix grit through his teeth and let go of Levin's collar then went back to his seat.
"Hahaha what a pus—"
Sneering, Levin tried to insult Felix once again but he was cut off by Lucian.
"You shut your mouth too. You have no power outside of Academy so you should refrain from making way too many enemies."
Levin glanced at Lucian, the two of them held each others' gaze for a few seconds before Levin eventually surrendered and shrugged with a chuckle.
"Alright, Your Highness"
Levin settled back into his seat and went back to read the book that he was given despite only knowing a few syllables. The other noble kids also stopped insulting Levin and just kept quiet until their Professor arrived.
The professor was a woman in her late 20s, she wore a long black cloak which covered her body and also flow down until to the floor.
"I am Vheronica Jaciena, you may address me as Miss Jaciena, and I will be teaching you about Divine Power or what others may call [ Deva ]"
The class that Levin was currently taking was named [ Introduction to Blessings ], like the name suggests, it apparently teaches them everything about their Blessings.
Settling properly in his seat, Levin paid close attention to the class.
"Well, for starters I will tell you about the history of [ Deva ]"
Seeing that every student was listening to her eagerly, Vheronica smiled as she started writing something on the class whiteboard. Since Levin still couldn't read it fully, he gave up and just waited for explanation.
"During the Ancient Epoch, there was nothing but chaos in this world. Demons slaughtered humans, and humans lived in hiding because of the demons. It was the dark times where everything was hopeless. But it was when grace came upon us, gods who came from a world incomprehinsible for us descended upon this land. Those are the 9 orthodox gods that we currently know."
She paused for a second before writing again in the board, this time Levin could read it.
[ Age of the Primeval Chaos: Ancient Epoch ]
"The 9 orthodox gods took pity on us mortals, so they gave us the power to control blessings...[ Deva ], then slowly with the help of Blessings, we were able to drive away the demons to the other Continent."
With that, Vheronica concluded the history about Deva as she started writing another words that Levin couldn't read. Regardless, it says:
[ 7 Deva Realms ]
"Now enough about the history. I am not your History Teacher"
Vheronica joked which earned her a lot of chuckle from the students, even from Lucian who seemed to be so stoic.
"I will now properly introduce you to the Hierarchy of Blesseds. Currently, there are 7 stages that a blessed could achieve. Those are called the 7 Deva Realms."
She paused once again, illustrating lots of cute scribbles of Human, Animal, Sharp teeth Monster, Tree, Ghost.
"Each realm corresponds to the 7 lights of the rainbow, with Red being the lowest class of all....anyways, the stages are respectively called: [ Red: Human Realm ], [ Orange: Animal Realm ], [ Yellow: Monster Realm ], [ Green: Nature Realm ], [ Blue: Spirit Realm ]. then there is Indigo and Violet which no one ever in history still hasn't achieved aside from The Hero's Party who didn't go into that much details about the names of the other realms. But regardless, the Sword Emperor, Duke Valiere might attempt to achieve the Indigo realm in this era though so we might be able to get a glimpse of what that realm is."
Levin listened to Vheronica's discussion properly as he also took down some notes to a certain extent despite not knowing how to read or write, regardless he copied the letters written in the board.
'But why does it have to be named like that? And what does the colors even mean?'
As if someone had read the mind of Levin, a girl infront raised her hand. It was the Princess of Verian Kingdom, Medea Sol Verian.
Already expecting questions, Vheronica decided to entertain Medea's hand as she picked it.
"But miss, what does the colors even mean? And why are the realms named like that?"
Smiling at Medea's innocent questions, Vheronica smiled and showcased her Deva. Everyone's eyes sparkled in marvel as they saw the yellow light coming from Vheronica.
"Hmmm, The Colors means that it will be the color of your Core when you ascend to such stages. In my case, I am currently in the Yellow stage...The Monster Realm. Names actually matters a lot dear, that is why the last realms aren't named just lightly to avoid corruption when ascending."
Vheronica paused for a second when she noticed the confused expressions of her students. She chuckled upon seeing that and continued.
"Ascending to a newer realm is like fighting a Monster. It is better if you know the name of the realm for you to have something to anchor yourself in, like for example...I will ascend to the Green Stage which is the Nature Realm, I need to know and understand the philosophy of the nature realm first if I don't want to lose myself and get corrupted when ascending. The Path of Deva is not just about growing stronger, it is also about the philosophy of the world."
Gaining an understanding from Vheronica's teachings, every student in the classroom nodded as they all—including Levin—thanked Vheronica. Except for another student. Evan. A commoner student like Levin.
"But Miss, what happens if you get corrupted?"
Smiling at Evan's innocent question, Vheronica once again entertained it with a smile.
"Then you will die....no, not die instantly. You will go through a painful experience where your Deva will run rampant in your body and destroy it. The only way to stop it is to either let it turn you into a monster of divinity or turn yourself into a cripple no different from Unchosen. Either way, it will just be a fate worse than death"
With that answer, the mood in the class dropped down as another bombshell was also thrown by their Professor.
"Now then! Let us all try to see if you can ascend to Human Realm, The Red Stage!"
Everyone was terrified at Vheronica's cheerful demeanor.
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It stinks. It tastes like shit.
I swam up to the surface of this flooding shit water and once I reached the surface, I vomitted every sewage water I drank from that flood just now as I moved myself out of the sewage water.
"I survived..."