CHAPTER FIVE — FIRST LESSONS
The academy hallway buzzed with life, students moving everywhere. The air felt thicker here—charged with essence—at least ten percent denser than the outside.
Max trailed behind lira, trying hard not to gawk like a tourist at an attraction site, but the place made it difficult.
To his right, transparent walls revealed rows of training rooms stretched along the corridor—currently silent and empty only because it wasn't yet time for practical or combat lessons.
They passed a massive digital wall listing the academy's top ten students. Names. Ranks. Photos. Achievements. All projected in crisp blue light.
Max slowed just enough to glance at the number one spot, it belonged to a girl. Cold blue eyes. Almost white hair. Along side other informations such as her name, her power level was listed as: Peak of Rank Zero—which was somewhere between nine and twelve opened meridians.
Max did a quick internal calculation.
And smiled.
Lira didn't notice his grin. "Our first lecture's in Hall Seven," she said, weaving through the crowd with practiced ease. "Halvek hates latecomers."
"That's comforting," Max muttered.
They stepped into a vast circular lecture hall—tiered seating rising upward in smooth arcs. Hundreds of students sat scattered across the room. Floating screens hovered in the air like silent sentries. The sound of layered conversations filled the space, turning into one vibrating ocean of noise.
Max hesitated.
It wasn't the crowd that shook him—no, it was the idea of being back to school—again. Remembering his own schooling days, it brought him no pleasure to be here again, in school—even if he was basically in another world compared to the one he lived in.
"Seat," Lira whispered. "You look constipated."
"And no worries," she added with a smirk, "you always look like that anyways."
Speechless, Max just slid into the seat beside her just as the doors slid open once more.
Silence gripped the room in an instant.
Then—footsteps. Sharp, measured, unhurried. A man stepped onto the central platform, coat swaying behind even in still air. broad-shouldered. grey-eyed. A face carved from stone.
Instructor Halvek.
Every student straightened subconsciously—even max.
Halvek scanned the room, slowly. "Let's begin."
And just like that, numerous screens flickered alive as the students got ready to make notes.
Beside Halvek, a large holographic projection formed—five titanic slabs of stone rotating in slow, steady motion. Each was carrying a distinct difference—angle variations, proportion mismatch—but all shared a singular, strange detail: the top section of every slab glitched and fizzled into static whenever it came into view.
Halvek's voice was calm and deep.
"About a thousand years ago, we… experienced the Tomes descent. They rewrote existence. They taught us essence—they taught us to evolve, to become… more."
He let the silence breathe before continuing.
"Now, a thousand years later, Biology has caught up—and even surpassed technology. A common stage one evolver can punch with almost a ton of force, have a lifespan up to a hundred and fifty years and more—not to mention a Stage-Two evolver."
Max leaned forward, pulse quickening.
This was it.
The moment.
He already knew most of this through Kaelion's memories, yet hearing it aloud—with the echo, the weight, the reverence—sent a strange shiver through him he couldn't quite name.
Halvek continued, pacing slowly across the platform.
"Essence exists everywhere. In air, in stone, in soil, in water… and in us. These facts, you know—i know."
He paused. The room seemed to hold its breath.
"What we don't know," Halvek continued, "is the origin of this essence itself. Did it come from the Tomes? Or perhaps from the earth itself?"
"No one knows—only that it is the driving force behind evolution."
The projection shifted—showing beasts the size of buildings, forests where walking trees mumbled in an unknown tongue, rivers that rippled as yet another elemental was born.
It was evolution in a weird sense.
Even earth itself… was not spared.
Max swallowed hard.
Halvek's voice dropped to a near whisper.
"In the beginning, humans evolved not to conquer… but to keep up. to ensure they are not left behind. But eventually, humans did what humans do best—they adapted. But make no mistakes…"
His tone hardened.
"Because evolution does not discriminate. Everything is evolving. And if you don't, you are left behind."
The class was silent.
Halvek turned to gaze at the shifting projection; now it displayed a strange butterfly-like creature—a cross between butterfly and caterpillar, like it hadn't finished transforming—only, it was the size of two car stacked together.
Halvek muttered softly, "see that? That's the reason we must never stop evolving—never."
Even whispered, the quiet class heard him clearly, and the words ignited something in them.
Max, too, felt something stir in his chest—fear, understanding, maybe both. Kaelion had died chasing that believe too. Afterall, the beasts killed his family.
His goal previously had simply been to get stronger and end all beasts. Yeah, he was a nutcase—a hidden one.
Now he sat in his body, feeling the same pressure all over again.
"Now…."
Just like that the lecture continued—two hours of theory, history, biology, and speculation. When it finally ended, Halvek dismissed them with a single sentence:
"Final evaluations are coming soon. Prepare well—your results will decide which warrior academies you get accepted into—if you're accepted at all."
The screens vanished. Chairs scraped. Conversations exploded back into the air
Lira stretched with dramatic flair.
"Well… that was fun."
"That's your definition of fun?" Max asked.
"No," she said, "but it'll build character."
Max blinked. "How does that make sense—?"
Lira laughed and moved with the flow of students heading toward the next class. Voices filled the corridor: complaints, bragging, predictions about the exam.
Max listened, fascinated by the differences in perspective and opinions.
Until a voice behind him—a very irritating one—sliced through the noise:
"Well look at that. I was wondering what was so stinking—turns out, it's the trash, kaelion."
Max turned.
Three boys leaned casually against the wall. Arms folded. Academy jackets hanging open. Their eyes were hateful, mocking, sharp and competitive.
The tallest one smirked.
"Thought you finally quit. Would've been smart."
Max stared at them.
Something in their eyes, the way they looked at him—it triggered something. It made him shiver subconsciously.
He closed his eyes, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.
Inwardly, he repeated the words I'm not Kaelion… to himself.
When he finally opened his eyes again, he no longer trembled.
Of course he recognized the trio: how could he not when they made it their life mission to make his—kaelion's—academy life a living hell?
Daren, kester, Mathew.
These were their names, privileged sons of bitches who used their family names as shields to terrorize numerous students at school.
But of course, this only applied to those without any backing or significant background—like kaelion.
Looking at them made max remember his own school days, he'd known quite a few of these too.
"what are you looking at, trash? Move along!" One said, interrupting his reminiscing.
Lira immediately grabbed Max's wrist and tugged him away.
"…Jerks," she muttered.
Then she turned to him, eyes wide.
"You—you hit your head?"
"Huh?"
"Why didn't you run?!" she nearly shouted.
Max scratched the back of his head. "Well, I figured—"
"Figured WHAT?" Lira exploded. "If you wanna die, can you not drag me into it?!"
Max blinked.
"…Fair point."
"Hmph!"
With that, she stomped down the hall toward their next class.
Meanwhile, Max's mind was elsewhere—on the faces of Daren, Kester, and Matthew. On their smirks that promised nothing good.
Knowing them, this certainly wasn't the end of it—but he would be waiting.
And ready.